Pashtun
/pʌʃˈtuːn/noun
A member of a large ethnic group native to Afghanistan and Pakistan, or the Pashto language and cultural identity associated with that group.
Did you know?The English form comes through Persian and South Asian usage, while the people themselves are more commonly known in their own language as Pashtun/Pakhtun, reflecting a long-shifting regional history rather than a single neat origin.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient/early historical
Iranian
*Pārśava / related ethnonymic forms
“An early ethnonymic background proposed in scholarship for some forms of the name, though the exact origin remains debated.”
Medieval Persian
Persian
Paštūn / Pakhtūn
“A Pashtun person; the ethnonym as used in Persianate sources.”
Medieval South Asian
Persian/Urdu
Pathān
“A term used in South Asia for a Pashtun, especially in historical and colonial-era usage.”
Modern Pashto
Pashto
Paṣ̌tūn / Pakhtūn
“A member of the Pashtun people.”
Modern English
English
Pashtun
“An English ethnonym for a Pashtun person or the Pashtun people.”