buraku means the burakumin, a Japanese minority group descended from feudal outcast communities. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.
Why “buraku” is a great word
A member of a Japanese social minority historically descended from feudal-era outcast communities. The word derives from Japanese 部落 (buraku, "hamlet, settlement") + 民 (min, "people"), literally "hamlet people," a term that acquired its specific social connotation in the Meiji era (1868–1912). Unlike the starkly pejorative historical caste term "eta" or the broadly urban concept of a "ghetto," *buraku* denotes a hereditary social identity rooted in specific, often rural, settlements. It is the weathered marker at a village's edge, the unspoken knowledge passed between families, and the modern resume meticulously crafted to hide an ancestral address—a testament to a society’s silent, enduring architecture of difference.
Etymology
From Japanese 部落民 (burakumin).
noun
- The burakumin, a Japanese minority group descended from feudal outcast communities“How far have they come since Japan began carrying out affirmative action policies for the buraku four decades ago, mirroring the American civil rights movement?”