noun
Neutral term for a person who is deaf. Often used in contexts related to Deaf culture and sign language. The spelling ろう者 is preferred in modern, inclusive usage.
彼女はろう者で、手話を第一言語としている。
She is a deaf person and uses sign language as her first language.
ろう者のコミュニティでは、手話が大切な役割を果たしている。
In the Deaf community, sign language plays an important role.
Compound of ろう (deafness) and 者 (person). The reading ろう is from Middle Chinese, and 者 is a Sino-Japanese suffix meaning 'person'.