'bantu' originates from Bantu languages (ultimately Proto-Bantu), specifically the word 'bantu', where 'ba-' was a plural/person-marking prefix meaning 'people' (plural) and '-ntu' meant 'person' or 'human'.

'bantu' entered English usage in the late 19th century through linguistic and anthropological work (e.g., Wilhelm Bleek); the English plural form 'Bantus' developed as the usual English plural.

Initially it meant 'people' in the original Bantu languages, but in English it came to denote 'members of the groups who speak Bantu languages' (an ethnolinguistic label).