The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology. Stories of the Yeti first emerged as a facet of Western popular culture in the 19th century.

The scientific community largely regards the Yeti as a legend, given the lack of evidence, . yet it remains one of the most famous creatures of cryptozoology. The Yeti can be considered a parallel to the Bigfoot legend of North America.

Etymology and alternate names

The name Yeti is derived from bo: w=g.ya' dred), a compound of the words bo: w=g.ya' "rocky", "rocky place" and (bo: w=dred) "bear". Pranavananda states that the words "ti", "te" and "teh" are derived from the spoken word 'tre' (spelled "dred"), Tibetan for bear, with the 'r' so softly pronounced as to be almost inaudible, thus making it "te" or "teh".

Other terms used by Himalayan peoples do not translate exactly the same, but refer to legendary and indigenous wildlife:

• Meh-teh (bo: w= mi dred) translates as "man-bear".
• Dzu-teh - 'dzu' translates as "cattle" and the full meaning translates as "cattle bear" and is the Himalayan Red Bear.
• Migoi or Mi-go (bo: w=mi rgod) (pronounced mey-goo) translates as "wild man".
• Mirka - another name for "wild-man", however as local legend has it "anyone who sees one dies or is killed". The latter is taken from a written statement by Frank Smythe's sherpas in 1937.
• Kang Admi - "Snow Man".

Nepalese have various names for Yeti like "Ban-manche" which means "forest(wild) man"Fact: date=August 2008 or "Kangchenjunga rachyyas" which means "Kanchanjunga's demon."Fact: date=August 2008.

The "Abominable Snowman"

Illustration of a yeti, also known as an abominable snowman The appellation "Abominable Snowman" was not coined until 1921, the same year Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Howard-Bury led the Royal Geographical Society's "Everest Reconnaissance Expedition" which he chronicled in Mount Everest The Reconnaissance, 1921. In the book, Howard-Bury includes an account of crossing the "Lhakpa-la" at where he found footprints that he believed "were probably caused by a large 'loping' grey wolf, which in the soft snow formed double tracks rather like a those of a bare-footed man". He adds that his Sherpa guides "at once volunteered that the tracks must be that of "The Wild Man of the Snows", to which they gave the name "metoh-kangmi". "Metoh" translates as "man-bear" and "Kang-mi" translates as "snowman".