angola

angola — noun

1. a nation on the southwestern coast of Africa, bordered by Namibia, Zambia, and t

1.noun
Definition

a nation on the southwestern coast of Africa, bordered by Namibia, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with Luanda as its capital and Portuguese as its official language.

Example

Maria's grandmother grew up in Angola before moving to Lisbon in 1975.

proper noun used without an article

Sofia's father works on an oil rig off the coast of Angola near Cabinda.

subject position; no article before the country name

Common collocations
  • in Angola
  • from Angola
  • to Angola
  • northern/southern Angola
  • the people of Angola

Grammar Patterns

used without an article

Usage Note

Always written with a capital A and used without 'the'. Adjective and demonym form is 'Angolan'.

Common Mistakes

She visited the Angola last year.
She visited Angola last year.
country names like Angola take no definite article.
He is angola.
He is Angolan.
use the demonym 'Angolan' for people or things from Angola, not the country name itself.

Word family

  • Angolan
    adjective
  • Angolan
    noun

Common collocations

Nouns

  • the coast of Angola
  • the people of Angola
  • the government of Angola

Phrases

  • northern Angola
  • southern Angola
  • central Angola

Prepositions

  • in Angola
  • from Angola
  • to Angola
  • across Angola

Etymology

KimbunduPortugueseEnglish

The country's name traces back to 'ngola', the royal title used by rulers of the Ndongo kingdom in the sixteenth century. Portuguese explorers and colonists adopted this title as a label for the wider region, and the form 'Angola' was carried into English through Portuguese sources during the era of European trade and colonisation in West-Central Africa.