amapiano

A1M3A1P3I1A1N1O1

noun

A house music subgenre that emerged in South Africa, often incorporating jazz piano and lounge music.

OriginZulu [Term?] →
Scrabble 12
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Meanings

nounamapiano (uncountable)
  1. South AfricauncountableentertainmentA house music subgenre that emerged in South Africa, often incorporating jazz piano and lounge music.

    A new generation of amapiano artists reference kwaito not only in terms of its style but for what it meant to the culture, as the soundtrack to a generation breaking free from the oppression of Apartheid.

    2021 September 22, Nkgopoleng Moloi, “Amapiano: inside South Africa’s sound of freedom”, in Dazed

Origin

  1. Zulu[Term?]
  2. Englishamapiano

Borrowed from Zulu [Term?] (literally “the pianos”).

More words from Zulu

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

amapiano. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amapiano

MLA

“amapiano.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amapiano. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “amapiano,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/amapiano.

Source: amapiano on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.