Attested as a noun in early New English Aphricane, Africans , Middle English as Affrican, Aufrican and Old English as Africanas . From Latin Africanus, from Āfricānus, from Āfricus.
The adjective appears in the 16th century, as Affricane, Africane, African.
Latin Āfricus is from Āfri (singular Āfer), the name of an ancient people of North Africa (near Carthage, in modern Tunisia), with the suffix -icus. Africānus is formed by addition of the -ānus suffix.
Modern English dictionary
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