Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Indians” come from?

Indians derives from Anglo-Norman indien, ultimately referring to inhabitants or things from India.

Indians (English): plural of Indian

Definitions

  1. plural of Indian

Ancestry of “Indians”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishIndianOf or relating to India or its people; or of the...
2Middle Frenchindien—
3Old FrenchindienIndian
4Old FrenchIndeIndia
5LatinIndia—
6Ancient GreekἸνδία—
7Ancient GreekἸνδόςan inhabitant of India or the Indian...
8Old Persian𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁India; people living beyond the Indus
9Sanskritसिन्धुa river, stream; flood, waters; ocean, sea
10Proto-Indo-Aryansíndʰuṣriver, ocean; flow
11Proto-Indo-Iraniansíndʰušriver, stream
12Sanskritसिन्धु॑—
Every word from Sanskrit सिन्धु॑ →