English
Eskimo
Eskimo comes from French Esquimau ‘eskimo (person)’.
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English Eskimo
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, Henry P. Davis, The Modern Dog Encyclopedia: “Yet many pure-bred, if unregistered, Eskimos are still kept…”.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentEsquimauWiktionary, English Eskimo‘Eskimo’disputed
- Englishearliest quotation 1958EskimoWiktionary, English Eskimo. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, Henry P. Davis, The Modern Dog Encyclopedia: “Yet many pure-bred, if unregistered, Eskimos are still kept…”
The story
Attested since 1584, from French Esquimau, ultimately from an Old Montagnais term. Ives Goddard's theory, accepted by most linguists today, is that it derives from Montagnais ayaškimew (‘snowshoe-netter’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. An older theory, defended by John Steckley due to its greater acceptance in Native oral traditions, but discredited by linguists, is that it derives from a term meaning "eater(s) of raw meat".disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it. In 1978, Montagnais-speaking Quebec anthropologist Jose Mailhot alternatively suggested Eskimo meant "people who speak a different language", but Steckley considers her theory unlikely.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Every English word from French Esquimau
Today it means
noun A member of a group of indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic, from Siberia, through Alaska and Northern Canada, to Greenland, including the Inuit and Yupik.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “Eskimo”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / French Esquimau / Eskimo