Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

African in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels african as adjective. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913adjective
African

[L. Africus, Africanus, fr. Afer African.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordafrican
Part of speechadjective
Historical etymology[L. Africus, Africanus, fr. Afer African.]
Selected historical definitionOf or pertaining to Africa.
Signed record IDwebster1913-african-adjective-068664195133
Source locatorCIDE.A, paragraph 4247; Gutenberg eBook 660
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 660Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "african" is labeled adjective. Its etymology is recorded as: "[L. Africus, Africanus, fr. Afer African.]" The selected historical definition says: "Of or pertaining to Africa."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

More released A records

Every card owns a different source record and historical sense.

adverb

Always

[All + way. The s is an adverbial (orig. a genitive) ending.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

American

[Named from Americus Vespucius.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Area

[L. area a broad piece of level ground. Cf. Are, n.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadverb

Already

[All (OE. al) + ready.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Action

[OF. action, L. actio, fr. agere to do. See Act.]

Webster 1913 exact record

Browse released A records - browse all historical records.