ˈmän(ˌ)dā noun
( plural mande also mandes )
Usage: usually capitalized
1. : mandingo 1, 2
2. : a branch of the Niger-Congo language family including Malinke, Bambara, Dyula, Kono, Vai, Mende, Kpelle, Loma, Mano, and Susu spoken in French West Africa, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, with their center in the upper Niger valley — called also Mandingo