Meaning

noun a large hairy humanoid creature said to live in the Himalayas

originBorrowed from Tibetan གཡའ་དྲེད (g.ya' dred, “wildman, yeti”), compound of གཡའ (g.ya', “dirt, rust, slate”) and དྲེད (dred, “bear”). Attested since 1937.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0