Where does “gaijin” come from?

gaijin (English) comes from Japanese 外人, from Japanese 人, from Proto-Japonic *pitə — one.

gaijin (English): A non-Japanese person

Definitions

  1. A non-Japanese person

Ancestry of “gaijin”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese外人outsider; an estranged, unfamiliar person;...
2Japanese人a person, human; an individual; mankind, people
3Proto-Japonic*pitəone
Every word from Proto-Japonic *pitə →Every word from Japanese 人 →Every word from Japanese 外人 →