Standard Lemma guide

Ainu

adj · name · noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈaɪnuː/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: EY1 N UW2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or pertaining to the Ainu ethnic group or their language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

The endangered language spoken by the Ainu ethnic group, generally considered a language isolate with no known relation to other languages.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A member of the ethnic group indigenous to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Synonym of Hokkaido (“a dog breed”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Hokkaido

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Ainu アイヌbor. Japanese アイヌ (Ainu)der. English Ainu From Japanese アイヌ (Ainu), from Ainu aynu (“person”).

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: ainu- — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Finnish: ainunkielinen — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • French: aïnou — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • French: aïnu — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Malay: Ainu — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Marathi: आइनू (āinū) — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Portuguese: aino — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Portuguese: ainu — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Slovak: ainský — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Slovak: ainuský — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Spanish: ainu — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Vietnamese: tiếng Ai Nô — pertaining to ethnic group or language
  • Ainu: アィヌ・イタㇰ (aynu itak) — language
  • Arabic: لُغَة آيْنْوِيَّة (luḡa ʔaynwiyya) — language
  • Asturian: llingua ainu — language
  • Basque: ainuiko — language
  • Belarusian: мова айну (móva ajnu) — language
  • Belarusian: айнская (ajnskaja) — language
  • Breton: ainoueg — language
  • Bulgarian: айнски (ajnski) — language
  • Catalan: ainu — language
  • Cherokee: ᎠᏱᏄ (ayinu) — language
  • Chinese: ainu-gú — language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 阿伊努語 /阿伊努语 (Āyīnǔ yǔ) — language
  • Czech: ainština — language
  • Dutch: Ainu — language
  • Esperanto: ajnua lingvo — language
  • Finnish: ainun kieli — language
  • Finnish: ainu — language
  • French: aïnou — language
  • French: aïnu — language
  • Galician: ainu — language
  • Georgian: აინუური (ainuuri) — language
  • German: Ainu — language
  • Hebrew: שפת איינו (safat aynu) — language
  • Italian: ainu — language
  • Japanese: アイヌ語 (Ainu-go) — language
  • Korean: 아이누어 (Ainu-eo) — language
  • Latin: lingua Ainuana — language
  • Latvian: ainu valoda — language
  • Lithuanian: ainų kalba — language
  • Low German: Ainu — language
  • Macedonian: ајнски (ajnski) — language
  • Malay: bahasa Ainu — language
  • Malay: Ainu — language
  • Marathi: आइनू (āinū) — language
  • Navajo: Aynu dineʼé bizaad — language
  • Nivkh: кʼуғи (kʼuγi) — language
  • Norwegian: ainu-språk — language
  • Ossetian: айнаг ӕвзаг (ajnag ævzag) — language
  • Polish: ajnuski — language
  • Portuguese: aino — language
  • Portuguese: ainu — language
  • Russian: а́йнский язы́к (ájnskij jazýk) — language
  • Russian: а́йну (ájnu) — language
  • Sicilian: lingua ainu — language
  • Spanish: ainu — language
  • Swedish: ainu — language
  • Tibetan: ཨའི་ནུ་སྐད། (a'i nu skad) — language
  • Ukrainian: айнська (ajnsʹka) — language
  • Vietnamese: tiếng Ainu — language
  • Ainu: アィヌ (aynu) — Ainu person
  • Chinese Mandarin: 阿伊努人 (Āyīnǔrén) — Ainu person
  • Finnish: ainut — Ainu person
  • French: Aïnou — Ainu person
  • French: Aïnoue — Ainu person
  • French: Aïnu — Ainu person
  • French: Aïnue — Ainu person
  • German: Ainu — Ainu person
  • Malay: orang Ainu — Ainu person
  • Malay: Ainu — Ainu person
  • Marathi: आइनू (āinū) — Ainu person
  • Nivkh: кʼуғи (kʼuγi) — Ainu person
  • Nivkh: куӻи (kuġi) — Ainu person
  • Polish: Ajnos — Ainu person
  • Polish: Ajnoska — Ainu person
  • Portuguese: ainos — Ainu person
  • Portuguese: ainus — Ainu person
  • Russian: а́йну (ájnu) — Ainu person
  • Russian: а́йны (ájny) — Ainu person
  • Spanish: ainu — Ainu person