[ ban'tu: , 'bantu: ]
■ noun ( plural same or ~s )
1》 a member of an extensive group of indigenous peoples of central and southern Africa.
2》 the group of Niger–Congo languages spoken by the ~, including Swahili, Xhosa, and Zulu.
Origin
plural (in certain ~ languages) of -ntu 'person'.
Usage
~ is a strongly offensive word in South African English, especially when used of individual people, but is still used outside South Africa to refer to the group of languages and their speakers collectively.