sudanese

sudanese — noun

1. a person who comes from Sudan, a country in northeastern Africa

1.nounA2
Definition

a person who comes from Sudan, a country in northeastern Africa

Example

A Sudanese from the city of Omdurman won the marathon.

countable: a Sudanese (singular)

Many Sudanese in Cairo have built a strong community near the market.

plural same as singular: many Sudanese

Common collocations
  • a Sudanese
  • the Sudanese
  • young Sudanese
  • Sudanese living abroad

Grammar Patterns

a Sudanese

the Sudanese (collective)

Usage Note

The same form 'Sudanese' works for both one person and many people. 'The Sudanese' (with 'the') refers to the people of Sudan as a group.

Common Mistakes

He is a Sudanese person.
He is a Sudanese.
'Sudanese' alone already means a person from Sudan; adding 'person' is redundant.

sudanese — adjective

Word family

  • Sudan
    nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Unlike many nationalities where the noun and adjective forms differ (e.g., 'Egypt' → 'Egyptian'), 'Sudanese' serves as both the noun for a person and the adjective describing anything related to the country. The country name 'Sudan' is a proper noun and should not be used as an adjective — say 'Sudanese food', not 'Sudan food'. Other demonyms in '-ese' (Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese) follow the same pattern of identical noun and adjective forms.

Sudanese ↗Sudan

Common collocations

Nouns

Prepositions

Etymology

ArabicEnglish

Comes from the country name 'Sudan' plus the suffix '-ese', which forms adjectives and nouns meaning 'from or relating to a place'. 'Sudan' itself comes from Arabic 'bilād as-sūdān' (بلاد السودان), meaning 'land of the black people' — a geographical term used by medieval Arab scholars for the region south of the Sahara.