abuna

See also: abuną, Abuna, and Abunã

English

Alternative forms

• abun

Etymology

From Amharic አቡነ (ʾäbunä), Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈbuːnə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

abuna (plural abunas)

2. (Christianity) The Patriarch, or head of the Abyssinian Church.
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 242:

     Around these leaders are still numerous hereditary dynasties of non-monastic clergy who, over the centuries, might swarm in their thousands to seek ordination on the abun’s rare visits to their area.

Translations

head of the Abyssinian church

French: abouna (fr) m Polish: abuna m Portuguese: abuna m