gaijin

/ˈɡaɪˌd͡ʒɪn/

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 外人 (gaijin, “foreigner”), from Middle Chinese 外人 (ngwajᴴ nyin). Compare Mandarin 外人 (wàirén), from Old Chinese 外人 (*ŋʷaːds njin, “foreigner, outsider” < “non-relative”), from 外 (wài, “outside, outer”) + 人 (rén, “person”).

gaijin means A non-Japanese person. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

gaijin is pronounced /ˈɡaɪˌd͡ʒɪn/.

Why “gaijin” is a great word

GAIJIN — [Noun] A Japanese term for a foreigner, distinguished by its implication of irreducible outsider status. From Japanese 外人 (gaijin, "foreigner"), itself from Middle Chinese 外人 (ngwajᴴ nyin), literally "outside person". Unlike the formal 外国人 (gaikokujin, "foreign-country person") or the geopolitically neutral English "foreigner", gaijin is a social marker, a subtle wall. It is the unbridgeable space on a crowded train, the cheerful but definitive "You speak Japanese so well!" from a shopkeeper, and the quiet, devastating clarity of being defined not by who you are, but by where you can never be from—a word that maps the unspoken contours of belonging itself.

noun

A non-Japanese person.“The peculiar position of his group, according to Mr. Okimoto, is shown by the Japanese habit of referring to such persons as either nisei or nikkeijin —of Japanese descent—instead of calling them gaijin, that is, foreigners, or identifying them by nationality.”
A white person.