What Does Swahili Mean in Arabic

What does the name Swahili mean?

1 : a member of a Bantu-speaking people of Zanzibar and the adjacent coast. 2 : a Bantu language that is a trade and governmental language over much of East Africa and in the Congo region.

What does the word Swahili literally mean?

Swahili has become a lingua franca for East Africa and surrounding areas. … The name Swahili comes from the plural of the Arabic word sahel ساحل: sawahil سواحل meaning “boundary” or “coast” (used as an adjective to mean “coastal dwellers” or, by extension, “coastal language”).