hominin

[ hom-uh-nin ]

noun

, Anthropology, Zoology.

1. any member of the group consisting of all modern and extinct humans and their immediate ancestors, specifically members of the tribe Hominini.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hominin¹

First recorded in 1985–90; from New Latin Hominīnī, equivalent to Latin homin- (stem of homō ) “human being, man” + -īnī (plural of the adjective suffix -īnus indicating origin or affiliation); Homo ( def ), -ine ¹( def ) )

Example Sentences

Ancient humans and their hominin ancestors really didn’t have much of a problem with cavities.

From FiveThirtyEight

In the last few hundred thousand years, multiple species of hominins existed and interbred with each other.

From Nautilus

You’d see all these different kinds of hominins coexisting on a landscape, eating slightly different things, moving in slightly different ways.

From Nautilus

These hominins were living in environments that had fewer and fewer trees.

From Nautilus

To me, the greatest revelation of your research is we didn’t evolve from hominins that walked on all fours.

From Nautilus