Chichewa

C3H4I1C3H4E1W4A1
/t͡ʃɪˈt͡ʃɛwə/

proper noun

The Bantu language of the Chewa tribe belonging to the Bantu linguistic family and one of Malawi’s national tongues promoted as the country’s lingua franca.

Similar
NyanjaChewaChinyanjaCewaChichewa language
RareScrabble 21

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Chicheŵa

  1. The Bantu language of the Chewa tribe belonging to the Bantu linguistic family and one of Malawi’s national tongues promoted as the country’s lingua franca.

    Synonyms: Nyanja, Chewa, Chinyanja

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounThe Bantu language of the Chewa tribe belonging to the Bantu linguistic family and one of Malawi’s national tongues promoted as the country’s lingua franca.

More synonyms by meaning

nouna member of the Bantu-speaking people of Malawi and eastern Zambia and northern Zimbabwe

Similar
Broader

nounthe Bantu language of the Chewa of east central Africa

Similar
Chichewa language
Broader
BantuBantoid language

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Bantu*kɪ̀-
  2. Chichewachi-
  3. ChichewaChi-
  4. ChichewaChicheŵá
  5. EnglishChichewa

From Chichewa Chicheŵa, from chi- (“language”) + Cheŵa.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 齊切瓦語 /齐切瓦语, 切瓦语
  • 齊切瓦語 /齐切瓦语 (Qíqièwǎyǔ)language
  • 切瓦语language
Finnish njandža
  • njandžalanguage
Irish Siséivis
  • Siséivislanguage
Russian нья́нджа, че́ва
  • нья́нджа (nʹjándža)language
  • че́ва (čéva)language
Swahili Kinyanja
  • Kinyanjalanguage
Cite this entry
APA

Chichewa. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chichewa

MLA

“Chichewa.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chichewa. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Chichewa,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Chichewa.

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