•A member of the Habesha people, typically of Ethiopian or Eritrean heritage. · The Semitic languages spoken by the Habesha people, such as Amharic and Tigrinya.
köken: Probably borrowed from Latin abissīnus (“Abyssinian”) or, alternatively, an internationalism (compare English Abyssinian, German Abessinier (“Abyssinian”), French Abyssin, Abyssinien (“Abyssinian”), abissino (“Abyssinian”)). Ultimately from Arabic حَبَشِيّ (ḥabašiyy, “Abyssinian”), from اَلْحَبَشَة (al-ḥabaša, “Abyssinia”).
Borrowed from Ge'ez ሐበሠ (ḥäbäśä, literally “Habesha”), historically referring to the Habesha people — an ethnonym for certain groups in the Horn of Africa, especially in Ethiopia and Eritrea.