Ainu
/ˈaɪ.nuː/noun
A member of an Indigenous people of northern Japan and adjacent regions, or the language they speak.
Did you know?Ainu is an ethnonym of uncertain internal etymology, but in Ainu usage it simply means 'human being'—a name that marks people by humanity itself.
Etymological Timeline
Prehistory
Ainu
aynu
“human being, person”
19th Century
English
Ainu
“the Indigenous people of Hokkaido and nearby regions”
19th Century
Japanese
アイヌ (Ainu)
“the Ainu people”
Modern English
English
Ainu
“a member of the Ainu people or the Ainu language”