Inuit
WordNet
noun
(1) A member of a people inhabiting the Arctic (northern Canada or Greenland or Alaska or eastern Siberia); the Algonquians called them Eskimo (`eaters of raw flesh') but they call themselves the Inuit (`the people')
WiktionaryText
Etymology
First attested 1755–65. From , singular .
Noun
- Any of several Aboriginal peoples of coastal Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland.
- Individual members of the Inuit peoples.
Synonyms
- Eskimo
- Inuits
- Inupiat, Inupiaq, Iñupiaq, or Inupik
- Inuvialuit
- Inuinnaq
- Nunavummiut
- Nunavimmiut
- Labrador Inuit
- Greenlander, or Kalaallit
- Skraeling
Synonyms
- Inupiatun, or Inupiak, and Qawiaraq
- Inuvialuktun
- Inuinnaqtun
- Inuktitut
- Nunavimmiutitut
- Nunatsiavummiutut, Labradorimiutut, or locally Inuttut
- Greenlandic, or Kalaallisut
Usage notes
The northern indigenous peoples of North America used to be called , but the term has fallen out of use and is considered offensive in Canada and Greenland, because it was once thought to stem from a pejorative (see Eskimo). is the accepted term in Canada, and has gained some currency in the United States. However, continues to be the prevalent name in Alaska for both the Inuit people and the non-Inuit .
Also note that and do not include the related people , nor the Indian or First Nations peoples of the Arctic.
Many dictionaries don't consider the plural form . is usually used as an ethnonym with no singular form (like ). The need to treat as a singular is obviated by wider recognition of its etymological singular form in recent times.
The Inuit language comprises a continuum of locally-intelligible dialects, with their own variations of the name for themselves and their own language. A number of these names have official status.