- a state in NE Africa, on the Red Sea: consolidated as an empire under Menelik II (1889–1913); federated with Eritrea from 1952 until 1993; Emperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the military in 1974 and the monarchy was abolished in 1975; an independence movement in Eritrea was engaged in war with the government from 1961 until 1993. It lies along the Great Rift Valley and consists of deserts in the southeast and northeast and a high central plateau with many rivers (including the Blue Nile) and mountains rising over 4500 m (15 000 ft); the main export is coffee. Language: Amharic; Oromo, Somali, and Tigrinya are also spoken. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: birr. Capital: Addis Ababa. Pop: 104 957 438 (2017 est). Area: 1 128 215 sq km (435 614 sq miles)Former name: Abyssinia
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
E•thi•o•pi•a
(ē′thē ō′pē ə),USA pronunciation n.
- Place NamesFormerly, Abyssinia. a republic in E Africa: formerly a monarchy. 58,732,577;
409,266 sq. mi. (1,060,000 sq. km). Present boundaries include Eritrea. Cap.: Addis Ababa. - Antiquity, Place NamesAlso called Abyssinia. an ancient region in NE Africa, bordering on Egypt and the Red Sea.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Ethiopia /ˌiːθɪˈəʊpɪə/ n
'Ethiopia' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Abyssinia
- Addis Ababa
- Aduwa
- Amhara
- Amharic
- Atbara
- Blue Nile
- cent
- Cepheus
- Covilhã
- Cush
- Cushitic
- Eritrea
- Eth.
- Ethiopian
- Ethiopic
- Gondar
- Haile Selassie
- Harar
- Italian East Africa
- Juba
- Lansbury
- Memnon
- Napier
- Negus
- Nile
- Ogaden
- Prester John
- Rastafarian
- Somaliland
- Tana
- Tigre
- afar
- Asmara
- Australopithecus afarensis
- birr
- Diredawa
- eth
- fountain grass
- Geez
- gelada
- gore
- Hadar
- Haile Selassie I
- hamadryas baboon
- klipspringer
- Lucy
- Maria Theresa thaler
- Massaua
- Menelik II