bosnian

bosnian — adjective

1. used for people, culture, or things from Bosnia, and for the language spoken the

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

used for people, culture, or things from Bosnia, and for the language spoken there.

Example

The cafe serves Bosnian coffee in small copper cups.

common noun phrase: Bosnian coffee

Leila bought a Bosnian cookbook at the Sarajevo airport.

adjective before a noun for national origin

Common collocations
  • Bosnian coffee
  • Bosnian music
  • Bosnian family
  • Bosnian food
  • Bosnian village
Synonyms
  • Bosnia-Herzegovinian

    more formal and usually used when the whole state is meant.

  • Bosniak

    not a full synonym; this names one ethnic group rather than everything from Bosnia.

Grammar Patterns

Bosnian coffee

Bosnian music

a Bosnian family

be Bosnian

Usage Note

Usually comes before a noun, as in Bosnian food or Bosnian music. After be, English can also use it alone, as in The family is Bosnian.

Common Mistakes

We listened to bosnian songs.
We listened to Bosnian songs.
nationality words are written with a capital letter.
She bought a Bosnia scarf.
She bought a Bosnian scarf.
use the adjective Bosnian before a noun.

bosnian — noun

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Bosnian is the broad everyday word for a person from Bosnia, and it also works as the adjective for the area's culture and language. Bosnia-Herzegovinian is more formal and usually points to the whole state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, so it appears more often in news or official writing. Bosniak is narrower: it names one ethnic group, so it does not replace Bosnian in every context. Herzegovinian refers to someone from Herzegovina, the southern region, not from Bosnia itself. A person from Sarajevo may be called Bosnian; an official report may prefer Bosnia-Herzegovinian; a history book may speak about Bosniak traditions.

Bosnia-HerzegovinianBosniakHerzegovinian

Etymology

BosniaEnglish

Bosnian was formed in English from Bosnia and the suffix -an, a common ending in words for nationalities and languages.