What does "inuit" mean?

A member of any of several Aboriginal peoples of coastal Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland.

What is a synonym for "inuit"?

Common synonyms include: aboriginal, eskimo, eskimo, esquimau, esquimau, greenlander.

Inuit

//ˈɪnjuːɪt// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
A member of any of several Aboriginal peoples of coastal Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Greenland.
2
plural of Inuk form-of, plural
3
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’) wordnet

Adjective

1
Of or pertaining to Inuit people, language, or culture.

Proper Noun

1
Synonym of Inuktitut, the Inuit language.

Synonyms

All synonyms

aboriginal eskimo eskimo esquimau esquimau greenlander

Example

More examples

"Greenland is politically and culturally associated with Europe but the majority of its residents are Inuit, whose ancestors began migrating from the Canadian mainland in the 13th century."

Etymology

First attested 1755–65. From Inuktitut ᐃᓄᐃᑦ (inoit, “the people”), singular ᐃᓄᒃ (inok, “person”), from Proto-Inuit *inuɣ.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.