Hutu

noun

Hu·​tu ˈhü-(ˌ)tü How to pronounce Hutu (audio)
plural Hutu or Hutus
: a member of a Bantu-speaking people of Rwanda and Burundi

Examples of Hutu in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Between 500,000 to 800,000 people belonging to the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa were killed by armed Hutu militias over the course of 100 days between April 7 and July 15, 1994. Zac Ntim, Deadline, 16 Feb. 2025 The violence began after a plane carrying Rwanda’s Hutu President, Juvenal Habyarimana, was shot down by unknown assailants. Emma Ogao, ABC News, 16 May 2024 In 1994, Hutu militias in Rwanda committed what was later ruled by the U.N. to be an ethnic genocide, with nearly 1 million mostly ethnic Tutsi slaughtered. Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 2 Feb. 2025 The conflict is a legacy of multistate wars that played out in Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which as many as 1 million people, mainly of the Tutsi ethnic group, were killed by Hutu extremists. Emmet Livingstone, NPR, 31 Jan. 2025 Rwanda does not deny the allegations but has criticized DR Congo for collaborating with a Hutu militia group against a mainly Tutsi rebel group, the CNDP, which M23 grew out of. Nimi Princewill, CNN, 30 Jan. 2025 Opus Hutu Located between Telluride and Silverton near the top of Ophir Pass in the San Juan Mountains, the Opus Hut was built for backcountry skiers, mountaineers, hikers and mountain bikers. Margaret Jackson, The Denver Post, 13 Nov. 2024 His family with Tatiana is mixed: Hutu and Tutsi, all jumbled up. Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 29 July 2024 The assassination on April 6, 1994, of the Hutu leaders of Rwanda and Burundi — their aircraft was shot down on approach to Kigali airport — triggered the genocide carried out by Hutu extremists against Tutsis and moderate Hutus, which resulted in the loss of more than 800,000 lives. Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 14 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Kinyarwanda & Kirundi (Bantu languages of East Africa)

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of Hutu was in 1952

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Cite this Entry

“Hutu.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Hutu. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.

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