Pashtun

American  

[pash-toon, pahsh-, puhsh-] / ˌpæʃˈtun, ˌpɑʃ-, ˌpʌʃ- /

Sometimes Pukhtun also Pushtun

noun

1. a people of eastern and southern Afghanistan and neighboring regions of northwest Pakistan; the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan.

2. Also called Pathan.  a member of the Pashtun people.

---

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Pashtun people.

Etymology

Origin of Pashtun

First recorded in 1810–20; from Pashto Pəx̌tānə, Pax̌tūn, Pəshtūn

Example Sentences

It also divides Pashtun communities who live on either side -- the ethnic group from which the Taliban, which returned to power in Kabul in 2021, draws much of its support.

From Barron's • Jan. 4, 2026

Among the groups of mujahideen who fought the Soviets were young men from the Pashtun tribe who had studied at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

The Taliban are hardline followers of the Sunni branch of Islam, and were previously almost exclusively associated with the Pashtun ethnicity.

From Reuters • Aug. 17, 2022

The promise made by the Taliban - in Pashtun areas straddling Pakistan and Afghanistan - was to restore peace and security and enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power.

From BBC • Aug. 12, 2022

“He is a friend of a business acquaintance of your father’s. He’s a Pashtun, from Kandahar originally, but he lives in Kabul, in the Deh-Mazang district, in a two-story house that he owns.”

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini