えぞ

See also: えそ

Japanese

For pronunciation and definitions of えぞ – see the following entry.

【蝦夷】

[noun] [from 1153] (historical) those people living in the northeast of Japan, regardless of ethnicity, with customs and culture and government that differ from the central Japanese imperial state

[noun] [from 1485] (historical) an ancient ethnic group that once lived in what is now the 関東 (Kantō), 北陸 (Hokuriku) and 東北 (Tōhoku) regions, likely as far as Hokkaido; likely related to the Ainu people

[noun] (regional) short for 蝦夷松 (Ezo matsu): the Yezo spruce, Picea jezoensis

[proper noun] (historical) short for 蝦夷地 (Ezochi): collective name for Hokkaido (mostly), the Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin before the Meiji period

(This term, えぞ, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)