# List of Jamaican Patois words of African origin

The list of African words in Jamaican Patois notes down as many loan words in Jamaican Patois that can be traced back to specific African languages, the majority of which are Twi words. Most of these African words have arrived in Jamaica through the enslaved Africans that were transported there in the era of the Atlantic slave trade.
| Patwa | Language | Original word | Description |
| Accompong Town | Akan | Acheampong, an Asante name. The name of Nanny of the Maroons and her brother who founded the Maroon town of the same name. |
| Ackee, akeee | Akan | Ánkyẽ | "a type of food/fruit", "cashew fruits" |
| Duppy, Dopi | Akan, Ga Language(an Akan loanword, Ga has many Akan loanwords and were at one point conquered by the much more powerful and numerous Akwamu-Akan) | Adópé (Dwarf in Ga language, but borrowed from Twi like many Ga customs. In Akan culture, ghosts take the form of dwarves[Mmotia] and apes[aboatia or adopeh] [note the -tia as a Twi suffix to denote a small stature, ghosts in Akan culture and Jamaica are seen as shape-shifters, they can be very big or very small. But are commonly so small they would be microscopic. Akans are the only West Africans that have dwarves as spiritual entities, which are considered to be tricksters. The word is said among the Ga people but the Jamaican application of the word matches the now extinct and former Akan word. An Akan origin for Duppy is far more likely.) | Demon, Ghost, often written in Jamaican English as "duppy" |
| Red Eye | Akan | Ani bere | "envious – direct translation from Akan into English" |
| Adrue | Akan, Ewe(The Akwamu-Akan also conquered the Ewe and introduced to them concepts such as matrilineal inheritance, stools and of course Akan loanwords the Ewe were originally and still are patrilineal.) | Adúru, adrú | "powder, medicine, drug" |
| Afasia, afasayah | Akan, Ewe | Afaséw, afaséɛ | "inferior wild yam" |
| Afu | Akan | Afúw | "yam" or "plantation" |
| Ahpetti | Igbo | O-peyi | A certain amulet |
| Akam-hand Igbo nigeria | Akam | A wild and inferior yam |
| Anansi | Akan | Anansi | "Spider" also name Akan folktale character. |
| Bafan | Akan | Bafan | a baby or toddler. A child that did not learn to walk between ages two and seven. |
| Bissy | Yoruba | Bese | Kola Nut |
| Brownin' | Akan | Oburoni | a white or near white person |
| Butu dung(verb) Urhobo/isoko Nigeria | Butu | to stoop or squat |
| Burru to carry Igbo Nigeria | Igbo nigeria | Kete music | from the twi 'Aburukwa', the smallest drum in Kete music. Kete is a form of war drumming that originated with the Asante people, then spread to other Akans. In Jamaica. It is called Buru. |
| Buru (adj) to carry | Akan | Buru | "Carry Igbo nigeria |
| Casha | Asante-Akan | Kasɛ́ | Acacia or "thorn" |
| Dokunu | Fante-Akan | Dɔkono | (also known as blue draws or tie-a-leaf in Jamaica) food, a dessert item similar to bread pudding. |
| Cocobay | Akan | Kokobé | "leprosy" |
| Fufu yam | Akan | Fufuo meaning white and referring to the Akan dish which is a pounded into a paste of white yam and cassava. | white yam |
| Ginal | Akan (Ashanti Twi) | Gyegyefuo, Gyegyeni. | Someone that is not taken seriously, a stupid person. A con-man (in Jamaica only) |
| Kaba-kaba | Yoruba | | "unreliable, inferior, worthless" |
| Kete | Asante-Akan | Aburukwa | "the smallest drum in Kete music" |
| come-see | Nigeria pidgin | Konkonsa | "gossip" |
| Mumu | Southern nigeria | | "dumb", "stupid" |
| Odum | Akan | Odum | a type of tree |
| Obeah | Akan (Ashanti Twi) | Ɔbayi | "witchcraft" |
| Opete | Urhobo | opete(archaic but preserved by the maroons, now replaced by John Crow, a Fante slaveseller named John Correntee(Kurentsir). Contemporary Jamaicans use the term John Crow to mean vulture and as an insult to mean a traitor or evil person.) | "vulture" |
| Paki | Akan | apakyi | calabash |
| Patu | Akan | Patu | "owl" |
| Printing Man | Asante-Akan | Aprentengman | a type of drum used in Kete and Buru music. |
| Poto-poto | Yorùbá, universally West African | | "mud", "muddy" |
| Backra | Efik | Mbakára | "white man" |
| Juk | Fula | Jukka | "poke", "spur" |
| Attoo | Igbo | átú | "chewing stick" |
| Breechee | Igbo | Mbùríchì | Nri-Igbo nobleman |
| Chink, chinch | Igbo | chị́nchị̀ | 'bedbug' |
| Country ibo | Igbo | Ị̀gbò | Pluchea odorata or Ptisana purpurascens |
| Himba | Igbo | Mba | "yam root", a type of yam, Rajania cordata |
| Nyam | Fula | Nyam | to eat |
| Okra | Igbo | ọkwurụ | a type of vegetable |
| Red Ibo, Eboe | Igbo | Ị̀gbò | a person with a light skin colour or a mulatto of mixed parentage |
| Unu | Igbo | únù | "you (plural)" |
| Dingki | Kongo | | funeral ceremony |
| Dundus | Kongo | ndundu | "albino", "white person", "European" |
| Abe | Akan | Abe | Palm coconut seed |
| Pinda | Kongo | | "peanut" |