Inuit
/ˈɪn.ju.ɪt/noun
A collective term for a group of Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, especially in Canada, Greenland, and Alaska.
Did you know?In Inuktut, Inuit is the plural form of Inuk, and the singular/plural distinction itself reflects a grammar of community rather than individuality.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Eskimo-Aleut
PEA
*inuk
“person, human being”
Inuktut
Inuktut
inuk
“a person; one human being”
Inuktut
Inuktut
inuit
“people; human beings (plural)”
19th-20th Century
English
Inuit
“borrowed ethnonym used for Arctic Indigenous peoples”
Modern English
English
Inuit
“the plural self-designation used for several Indigenous Arctic peoples”