Hindu

The term originates from the Persian word 'Hindū', which referred to an inhabitant of the land beyond the Indus River. This Persian term derived from the Sanskrit name for the river, 'Sindhu'. Through Persian and later Arabic transmission, the word entered European languages, initially as a geographical and ethnic identifier for people from the Indian subcontinent. Over time, particularly during the British colonial period, its meaning narrowed to specifically denote an adherent of the dominant religions of that region, now primarily Hinduism.

The word is a simplex loanword from Persian. It is not productively segmented into meaningful morphemes within English.