A casual American or Canadian corruption of the term "Indian", referring to Native Americans. The earliest Europeans thought they had landed in India and applied "Indian" to the indigenous population. "Injun" more commonly heard during a period when the term "Indian" was used, often pronounced in later years only by children. Not typically meant as derogatory, as American "Indians" came to be admired during the latter period of common usage. Rarely used today, if so used in a typically light-hearted if politically-incorrect fashion. Can be derogatory given intent and inflection.

A very derogatory term used by southern whites against Native Americans. It is really a distortion of "Indian" of which many of these people are too dumb to pronounce, hence the word "injun". This word is to Native Americans as "Nigger" is to African-Americans. Also as "Honky" is to Whites. And also how "Chink" is to Asian people. All of this still goes on today. (Sarcastic Talk here> What a wonderful world!

I was told this from great-great-grandparents, which I believe is absolutely the true orgin of the word Injun. It is not from "lazy" word pernunciation by trying to say Indian. The word Injun is a contraction from the word indigenous, and spelled like the phonetic sound of the contraction. So "Indigenous", INdiGENous, INGEN, INJUN.

a carbon based life form that isn't quite human consisting of a curious combination of rainbows, love, and puppy blood.

A derogative slur for Indian sometimes replaced with dirty Indian

Injun/Injin, is a racialslur used to dehumanize and humiliate indigenous Americans. Injun is the Native American equivalent to the n-word. Injun was originally coined by Christopher Columbus as he mistook the American Indigenous for west asian Indians. However unfortunate, the slur injun was and is only used against American Indigenous, meaning west asian Indians who do not have American Indigenous heritage cannot use it to reclaim it.

If you do not have American Indigenous heritage it is racially offensive to use the word injun.
Injun is not pronounced like “engine”

A racially offensive term for Natives of North America.

However, as Dr. Samir Patel affirms vis-a-vis people of East Indian descent, young North American Natives have recently reclaimed the term and use it the way our Black brethren use "Nigga."