Tungus
/ˈtʊŋɡʊs/ noun, proper noun
Forms Tunguses Tungoose Toongoose
Synonyms
Etymology
* supposedly deriving from donki, a self-designation of certain Siberian groups, or alternatively from a Yakut name for the Evenki.
* Or, of East Turkic origin, from tunguz (“wild boar, pig”), from Old Turkic [script needed] (tonguz), from Proto-Turkic *toŋuz.
* A controversial theory further connects the word with Chinese 東胡 /东胡 (Dōnghú, “Donghu”, literally “Eastern barbarians”), an ancient people of North China.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Tungus”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details