Kabyle
/kəˈbʌɪl
/noun
1 (plural same) A member of a Berber people inhabiting northern Algeria.These frères d'olive would create another society with the local Kabyles and Berbers, departements of France as North Africa was once a great and fertile province of Rome....
- Berbers who inhabited the Atlas Mountains southeast of Algiers, Kabyles were the fiercest opponents of the French occupation, submitting to it only in 1857.
- The pressure to Arabize was resisted by Berber population groups, such as the Kabyles, the Chaouia, the Tuareg, and the Mzabt.
2 [mass noun] The Berber dialect of the Kabyle people.The Chaouia dialect, which is distinguishable from but related to Kabyle, bears the mark and influence of Arabic....
- The principal language used by this people is Kabyle, used both at home and professionally.
- Kabyle is a Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people.
adjective
Relating to the Kabyle or their language.We employed this technique when a Kabyle vessel arrived at the Museum with a white bloom across parts of the surface....
- The Chaouias are traditionally the most isolated of all the Berber groups; the only outsiders their villages received were occasional Kabyle traders.
- The fota, a piece of cloth usually red, yellow and black, was worn at the hips by Kabyle women.
Origin
Probably from Arabic qabā'il, plural of qabīla 'tribe'.