cape coast: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
LowFormal, Academic, Historical
Quick answer
What does “cape coast” mean?
A city and port in southern Ghana, historically significant as a major centre of the transatlantic slave trade.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
A city and port in southern Ghana, historically significant as a major centre of the transatlantic slave trade.
Refers both to the modern-day city and its historical, cultural, and tragic legacy as a European colonial trading hub and site of a major slave fort (Cape Coast Castle).
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No lexical difference. Knowledge of the place varies based on familiarity with African history.
Connotations
Carries strong historical connotations related to colonialism and the slave trade, especially in academic or cultural discourse.
Frequency
Equally low frequency in both dialects, used almost exclusively in geographical, historical, or travel contexts.
Grammar
How to Use “cape coast” in a Sentence
[verb] + Cape Coast (e.g., visited, left, flew to)[preposition] + Cape Coast (e.g., in, from, to, near)Cape Coast + [noun] (e.g., Castle, harbour, history)Vocabulary
Collocations
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Rare. May appear in tourism, shipping, or cultural heritage project contexts.
Academic
Common in historical, African studies, and sociological texts discussing colonialism and the slave trade.
Everyday
Used when discussing travel to Ghana, African history, or heritage sites.
Technical
Used in geographical and historical references; specific in cartography and historiography.
Vocabulary
Synonyms of “cape coast”
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms of “cape coast”
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “cape coast”
- Using lowercase ('cape coast') when referring to the city.
- Omitting 'Cape' and just saying 'Coast'.
- Treating it as a descriptive phrase rather than a proper noun.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a two-word proper noun, both words are capitalised.
Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and former slave-trading fort.
Very rarely. In non-proper noun usage, it would descriptively mean the coastline of a cape or headland, but this is not a standard lexical collocation.
Accra is the modern capital and largest city of Ghana. Cape Coast is a smaller, historically significant coastal city located about 150km west of Accra.
A city and port in southern Ghana, historically significant as a major centre of the transatlantic slave trade.
Cape coast is usually formal, academic, historical in register.
Cape coast: in British English it is pronounced /ˌkeɪp ˈkəʊst/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˌkeɪp ˈkoʊst/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “None. It is a proper noun.”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Imagine a CAPE (a pointed piece of land) on the COAST of Ghana where a CASTLE stands – Cape Coast Castle.
Conceptual Metaphor
A CONTAINER OF HISTORY (holding layers of cultural and tragic memory).
Practice
Quiz
What is Cape Coast primarily known for?