burakumin

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 部落民, from Middle Chinese 部落 (bu^X lak, “tribe”) + 民 (mjin, “people”).

Why this word is great

BURAKUMIN — [Noun] A member of a Japanese social minority group, descendants of feudal-era outcasts. Borrowed from Japanese 部落民 (burakumin), from Middle Chinese 部落 (bu^X lak, "tribe") + 民 (mjin, "people"). Unlike "eta" (historically denoting the lowest caste of outcasts) or "hinin" (referring to non-human outcasts like beggars or entertainers), "burakumin" encompasses the modern descendants of these marginalized groups, carrying the weight of ancestral stigma into contemporary society. It is the unspoken name in whispered conversations, the invisible line drawn by marriage registries, the shadow of a feudal past clinging to modern resumes—a reminder that history’s wounds often outlast its laws.

noun

A member of a Japanese social minority group, descendants of feudal-era outcasts.“Since the early twentieth century, the burakumin have had strong liberation movements that have won many concessions for the group, but which have also, through their sometimes quite violent activism, further alienated many mainstream Japanese.”