Etymology 1
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Compound of 旅 (tabi, “travel”) + 人 (hito, “person”).[1][2] The hito changes to bito as an instance of rendaku (連濁).
Noun
旅人 • (tabibito)
- one who travels: a traveler
Usage notes
For the traveler sense, the tabibito reading is the most common in modern Japanese.
Etymology 2
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Either an alteration of tabibito above,[1][2] or a compound of 旅 (tabi, “travel”) + 人 (to, “person”, suffixing form).[1] Compare the formation of 隼人 (hayato, name of an ancient ethnic group in Japan, literally “hawk people”), 東人 (azumato, “easterner”).
Proper noun
旅人 • (Tabito)
- Ōtomo no Tabito, an ancient Japanese noble
Etymology 3
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*/tapiputo/ → */tabibuto/ → /tabiudo/
Compound of 旅 (tabi, “travel”) + 人 (udo, “person”).
The term 人 (hito, “person”) appears in various older compounds with a root form of 人 (*puto → *buto → *udo, *puto → *futo → *uto). This form is never seen in isolation, and it often undergoes further phonetic changes to combine with preceding vowels. Compare the formation of 仲人 (nakōdo), from naka + udo; 素人 (shirōto), from shiro + uto; 玄人 (kurōto), from kuro + uto.
Etymology 4
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*/tapiputo/ → */tabibuto/ → /tabiudo/ → /tabjuːdo/
Alteration from tabiudo above.[1] Compare the formation of 仲人 (nakōdo), from naka + udo; 素人 (shirōto), from shiro + uto.
Etymology 5
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Compound of 旅 (tabi, “travel”) + 人 (nin, “person; type of person”, using the Chinese-derived goon reading).[1][2]
Etymology 6
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From later Middle Chinese compound 旅人 (ljoX ȵʑjen, literally “travel + person”). Compare modern Mandarin reading lǚrén.
References
Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN