An ethnic out-group (also sometimes "outgroup" without hyphen) [1] is a group of people which does not belong to a particular ethnic group, religion or nationality. Many cultures have terms referring to all outsiders, but in practice this often becomes narrowed to the largest outsider group.
Out-group terms are sometimes, but not always, considered to be derogatory, depending on the word and the context and manner in which it is used. The extent to which specific terms (such as allochtoon in the Netherlands or Pākehā in New Zealand) should be considered offensive is often a source of public debate. Nonetheless, these terms can be distinguished from ethnic slurs which are always derogatory and always refer to specific ethnic groups (rather than outsiders in general).
These terms are principally used by the members of an ethnic group (the in-group) to refer to outsiders (the out-group). However, in some cases the terms are used more widely, including by members of the out-group to describe themselves in relation to the group concerned. For example, the word gentile (non-Jew) is used by both Jewish and non-Jewish people.
A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice.
Farang is a Persian word that originally referred to the Franks and later came to refer to Western or Latin Europeans in general. The word is borrowed from Old French franc or Latin francus, which are also the source of Modern English France, French.
In modern Hebrew and Yiddish, goy is a term for a gentile, a non-Jew. Through Yiddish, the word has been adopted into English also to mean "gentile", sometimes in a pejorative sense. As a word principally used by Jews to describe non-Jews, it is a term for the ethnic out-group.
Gentile is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term gentile to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synonym for heathen, pagan or any non-circumcised person, regardless of ancestry. As a term used to describe non-members of a religious/ethnic group, gentile is sometimes compared to other words used to describe the "outgroup" in other cultures.
Pākehā is a Māori-language word used in English, particularly in New Zealand. It generally means a non-Polynesian New Zealander or more specifically a European New Zealander. It is not a legal term and has no definition under New Zealand law. Papa'a has a similar meaning in Cook Islands Māori.
This glossary of names for the British include nicknames and terms, including affectionate ones, neutral ones, and derogatory ones to describe British people, Irish People and more specifically English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish people. Many of these terms may vary between offensive, derogatory, neutral and affectionate depending on a complex combination of tone, facial expression, context, usage, speaker and shared past history.
Gweilo or gwailou is a common Cantonese slang term for Westerners. In the absence of modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of racially deprecatory and pejorative use. Cantonese speakers frequently use gwailou to refer to Westerners in general use, in a non-derogatory context, although whether this type of usage is offensive is disputed by both Cantonese and Westerners.
In political contexts, comrade means a fellow party member, usually left-wing. The political use was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the West has often associated it with communism. As such, it can be used as a derogatory reference to left-wingers, akin to "commie". In particular, the Russian word tovarishch may be used as derogatory reference to Communists.
Ajam is an Arabic word meaning mute. It generally refers to non-Arabs, including those whose mother tongue is not Arabic. During the Arab conquest of Persia, the term became a racial pejorative. In many languages, including Hindi, Sindhi, Urdu, Persian, Turkish, Hindustani, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Kurdish, Gujarati, Chechen, Malay, Punjabi, Kashmiri and Swahili, 'Ajam and 'Ajamī refer to Iran and Iranians respectively.
Kaffir, also spelled Cafri, is an exonym and an ethnic slur – the use of it in reference to black people being particularly common in South Africa. In Arabic, the word kāfir ("unbeliever") was originally applied to non-Muslims before becoming predominantly focused on pagan zanj who were increasingly used as slaves. During the Age of Exploration in early modern Europe, variants of the Latin term cafer were adopted in reference to non-Muslim Bantu peoples even when they were monotheistic. It was eventually used, particularly in Afrikaans, for any black person during the Apartheid and Post-Apartheid eras, closely associated with South African racism, it became a pejorative by the mid-20th century and is now considered extremely offensive hate speech. Punishing continuing use of the term was one of the concerns of the Promotion of Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act enacted by the South African parliament in the year 2000 and it is now euphemistically addressed as the K-word in South African English.
Allochtoon is a Dutch word (from Greek: ἀλλόχθων, from ἄλλος allos'other' and χθών chthōn'soil, earth, land', literally meaning "emerging from another soil". It is the opposite of the word autochtoon (in English "autochthonous" or "autochthon"; from Greek αὐτόχθων, from αὐτός autos'self, same' and again χθών chthōn'soil, earth, land', literally meaning "emerging from this soil".
Giaour or Gawur meaning "infidel", is a slur used mostly in the lands of the former Ottoman Empire for non-Muslims or, more particularly, Christians in the Balkans.
Mzungu, also known as muzungu, mlungu, musungu or musongo, is a Bantu word that means "wanderer" originally pertaining to the first European explorers to the East African region whom the local tribes thought were traveling aimlessly with no goals to settle, conquer or trade, like restless spirits - the initial explorers who unbeknownst to the local tribes, were taxed with mapping the area, travel and trade routes, key landmarks like the source of the river Nile as well as documenting dominant kingdoms and forging some alliances that were then later used by missionaries and colonialists in their conquest.
Gabr is a New Persian term originally used to denote a Zoroastrian.
An infidel is a person who is accused of disbelief in the central tenets of one's own religion, such as members of another religion, or irreligious people.
Bule is an Indonesian word for foreigners and/or non-Indonesian national, specifically people of European descent.
Oborɔnyi is the Akan word for foreigner, literally meaning "those who come from over the horizon." It is often colloquially translated into "white person."
Gaijin is a Japanese word for foreigners and non-Japanese citizens in Japan, specifically being applied to foreigners of non-Japanese ethnicity and those from the Japanese diaspora who are not Japanese citizens. The word is composed of two kanji: gai and jin. Similarly composed words that refer to foreign things include gaikoku and gaisha. Though the term can be applied to all foreigners of non-Japanese citizenship and ethnicity, some non-Japanese East Asians may have specific terminology used instead.
Dkhar, is a term used by the Khasis to refer to non-Khasi people in Meghalaya. It is non derogatory but some perceived it as derogatory. For Khasis any non-tribal is a dkhar and they address them by that term. Sometimes the word dkhar have been collectively used with the term heathen (Non-believers), as most of the native Khasis are christian, While non-tribals are mainly hindu. In real, the term is mostly used against affluent Bengali Hindu settlers from West Bengal or the Bengali Hindu refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan It is sometimes abbreviated to ′Khar and may also denote a Khasi clan with the same name.
The Turkish term "giaour" a term of contempt, was applied to these Balkan Christians,
In the Ottoman defters, Orthodox Christians are as a rule recorded as kâfir or gâvur (infidels) or (u)rum.
For example, Nubians take pride in their pure race, and they use the term 'Gorbatti' to describe outsiders or non-Nubians