hominin

American  

[hom-uh-nin] / ˈhɒm ə nɪn /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of hominin

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); see origin at Homo ( def. ), -ine ¹ ( def. ) )

Compare meaning

How does hominin compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• hominin vs. hominid

Example Sentences

Were they part of a larger web of hominin species living across eastern Africa?

From Science Daily • May 16, 2026

The Turkana Rift has produced more than 1,200 hominin fossils from the past 4 million years, accounting for about one third of all such finds in Africa.

From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026

North and South America and Australia are especially intriguing because they were not inhabited by earlier hominin species before Homo sapiens.

From Science Daily • Feb. 12, 2026

These conditions ultimately led researchers to the hominin remains and the geological context that makes the current study possible.

From Science Daily • Feb. 7, 2026

Prior to that, she was a paleoanthropology researcher and received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship in 2016 for work focused on hominin bipedalism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 3, 2026