List of English words of Chinese origin

Words of Chinese origin have entered the English language and many European languages. Most of these were loanwords from Chinese itself, a term covering those members of the Chinese branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. However, Chinese words have also entered indirectly via other languages, particularly Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, that have all used Chinese characters at some point and contain a large number of Chinese loanwords.

Different sources of loan words

English words with Chinese origin usually have different characteristics depending how the words were spread to the West. Despite the increasingly widespread use of Standard Mandarin among Chinese people, English words that are based on Mandarin are relatively few.

Some words spread to the West ...

Though all these following terms originated from China, the spelling of the English words depends on which dialect the transliterations came from.

Contents 

B

Brainwashing 
A calque of Chinese 洗腦 (where 洗 literally means "wash", while 腦 means "brain", hence brainwash), a term and psychological concept first used by the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War. It may refer to a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas; or persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship. The term "brainwashing" came into the mainstream English language after Western media sources first utilized the term to describe the attitudes of POWs returning from the Korean War.[1]
Bok choy 
from Cantonese 白菜 (baak6 coi3), a Chinese cabbage: lit. 'white vegetable'

C

Catsup 
see Ketchup
Char 
colloquial English word for 'tea', originally from Cantonese 茶 (caa4)
Cheongsam 
from Cantonese 長衫 (coeng4 saam1), lit. long clothes. Popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ch'i 
or "qi", energy of an object or person, from Mandarin 氣 (air or spirit). (This word is correctly represented in Wade–Giles romanization by "ch'i," but the rough breathing mark (replaced by an apostrophe in most texts) has disappeared in colloquial English.)
Chin chin
or chin-chin is an exclamation used to express good wishes before drinking, from reduplicated Chinese qǐng 請 "please; to invite". While occasionally used in American English, chin-chin is an informal and outdated British English usage, for instance, the TV sitcom As Time Goes By.[2]
China 
via Latin Sina, Persian چین Cin, and Sanskrit चीन Chinas; ultimately from the name of the Qin 秦 or Jin 晉
Chop chop 
from Cantonese cuk1 cuk1 速速, lit. hurry, urgent[3]
Chopsticks 
from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.
Chop suey 
from Cantonese 雜碎 (zaap6 seoi3), lit. mixed pieces
Chow 
from Chinese Pidgin English chow chow which means food, perhaps based on Cantonese 炒 (caau2), lit. stir fry (cooking)
Chow chow 
any of a breed of heavy-coated blocky dogs of Chinese origin
Chow mein 
from Taishanese 炒麵 (chau meing), lit. stir fried noodle, when the first Chinese immigrants, from Taishan came to the United States.
Confucianism 
from Confucius, Latinized form of 孔夫子 (kǒng fūzǐ) 'Master Kong'
Cumshaw 
from Amoy 感謝, feeling gratitude

D

Dim sum and Dim sim 
from Cantonese 點心 (dim2sam1), lit. touches the heart

F

Fan-tan 
from Cantonese 番攤 (faan1 taan1), lit. (take) turns scattering
Feng shui 
from feng, wind and shui, water 風水; (slang) Denotes an object or scene which is aesthetically balanced (generally used in construction or design)
Foo dog 
from Mandarin 佛 fó Buddha (from their use as guardians of Buddhist temples)

G

Ginkgo 
mistransliteration of 銀杏 (ginkyō or ginnan) in Japanese
Ginseng 
from Hokkien Chinese 人參 jîn-sim, rendered in Mandarin as renshen, name of the plant. Some say the word came via Japanese (same kanji), although 人参 now means 'carrot' in Japanese; ginseng is 朝鮮人參 ('Korean carrot').
Go 
From the Japanese name igo 囲碁 of the Chinese board game. Chinese 圍棋, Mandarin: Weiqi.
Guanxi 
Guanxi (關係) refers to connections or relationships in Chinese culture. It is occasionally a reference to nepotism or cronyism among Chinese businesses and bureaucracies.
Gung-ho 
from Cantonese 工合 (gun1 hap6), short for 工業合作社
Gyoza 
Japanese ギョーザ, gairaigo from Chinese 餃子 (Mandarin: Jiaozi), stuffed dumpling. Gyoza in English refers to the fried dumpling style (as opposed to water boiled).

H

Hanfu 
汉服/漢服, lit. Han clothing. Traditional Chinese clothes; it includes several varieties for both men and women.
Har gow
from Cantonese 蝦餃 (haa1 gaau2), lit. shrimp dumpling
Hoisin (sauce) 
from Cantonese 海鮮 (hoi2 sin1), lit. seafood

K

Kanji 
Japanese name for Chinese characters: 漢字, lit. Chinese characters. Chinese: Hànzì.
Kaolin 
from 高嶺, lit. high mountain peak, the name of a village or suburb of Jingde Town, in Jiangxi Province, that was the site of a mine from which kaolin clay (高嶺土 gāo lǐng tǔ) was taken to make the fine porcelain produced in Jingde.[4]
Keemun 
from Cantonese 祁門 (kei4 mun4), tea from Qimen in China
Ketchup 
from Cantonese 茄汁 (ke4 zap1), short for 蕃茄汁 (faan1 ke4 zap1), lit. tomato sauce/juice
Koan 
Japanese 公案 kōan, from Chinese 公案 (Mandarin gōng'àn), lit. public record
Kowtow 
from Cantonese 叩頭 (kau3 tau4), lit. knock head
Kumquat or cumquat
from Cantonese name for tangerines 柑橘 (gam1 gwat1)
Kung fu 
the English term to collectively describe Chinese martial arts; from Cantonese 功夫 (gun1 fu1), lit. efforts

L

Lo mein 
from Cantonese 撈麵 (lou4 min6), literally scooped noodle
Longan 
from Cantonese 龍眼 (lung4 ngaan5), name of the fruit, literally "Dragon's eye"
Long time no see 
from Cantonese 好耐冇見 (hou2 noi6 mou5 gin3), a common greeting literally translated[3]
Loquat 
from Cantonese 蘆橘 (lou4 gwat1), old name of the fruit
Lychee 
from Cantonese 荔枝 (lai6 zi1), name of the fruit

M

Mao-tai or moutai
from Mandarin 茅台酒 (máotái jiǔ), liquor from Maotai (Guizhou province)
Mahjong 
from Cantonese 麻將 (maa4 zoeng3), lit. the mahjong game
Mu shu (pork) 
from Mandarin 木須 (mùxū), lit. wood shredded

N

Nankeen
Durable cotton, buff-colored cloth originally made in the city 南京 (Nánjīng, previously romanized as Nanking).
No can do
Cantonese 唔可以 (ng3 ho2 ji5); Mandarin: 不可以 (Bù kěyǐ)[3]
Nunchaku 
Okinawan Japanese, from Min (Taiwan/Fujian) 雙節棍, lit. double jointed sticks

O

Oolong 
from Amoy 烏龍, lit. dark dragon

P

Pai gow 
from Cantonese 排九 (paai4 gau2), a gambling game
Pekin
from Cantonese 北京 (bak1 ging1), a patterned silk cloth
Pinyin 
from Mandarin 拼音, lit. put together sounds; spelled-out sounds[5]
Pekoe 
from Amoy 白毫, lit. white downy hair
pongee 
from 本機, lit. our own loom, homespun, and so a kind of thin silk

Q

Qi 
from Mandarin 氣 (qì), air
Qipao 
from 旗袍 (qípáo), lit. Manchurian dress. Manchurian ethnic female clothing (male version: cheongsam)

R

Ramen 
Japanese ラーメン, gairaigo, from Chinese 拉麵 (Lamian) lit. pulled noodle. Ramen refers to a particular style flavored to Japanese taste and is somewhat different from Chinese lamian.

S

Sampan 
from Cantonese 舢舨 (saan1 baan2), the name of such vessel.
shanghai 
from Mandarin 上海 (shang hai) i.e. city of Shanghai, used as slang, meaning: to put someone aboard a ship by trickery or intoxication; to put someone in a bad situation or press someone into work by trickery. From an old practice of using this method to acquire sailors for voyages to Shanghai.
shantung
from Mandarin 山東，"shantung" (or sometimes "Shantung") is a wild silk fabric made from the silk of wild silkworms and is usually undyed.
Shaolin 
from Mandarin 少林, One of the most important Kungfu clans.
Shar Pei 
from Cantonese 沙皮 (saa1 pei4), lit. sand skin.
Shih Tzu 
from Mandarin 獅子狗, lit. lion child dog (Chinese lion)
Shogun 
Japanese 将軍, from Chinese 將軍, lit. general (of) military. The full title in Japanese was Seii Taishōgun (征夷大将軍), "generalissimo who overcomes the barbarians"
Siu mai 
from Cantonese 燒賣 (siu1 maai6), pork dumplings, lit. to cook and sell
Sifu 
from Cantonese 師傅, (si1 fu6), master.
Souchong 
from Cantonese 小種茶 (siu2 zung2 caa4), lit. small kind tea
Soy 
From Japanese shoyu 醤油, Chinese 醬油

T

Tai Chi 
from Mandarin 太極, T'ai chi "Great Ultimate" or T'ai Chi Ch'üan, usually miswritten as Tai Chi Chuan, a form of physical discipline, from Mandarin 太極拳，lit, "Great Ultimate(fist =) Fighting."
Tai-Pan 
from Cantonese 大班 (daai6 baan1), lit. big rank (similar to big shot)
Tangram 
from Chinese Tang (唐) + English gram
Tao　 and Taoism 
(also Dao/Daoism) from Mandarin 道 dào
Tea 
from the Amoy dialect for tea 茶, which is pronounced "dey". In Portuguese, Tea is pronounced as Cha(茶), so the earlier traders of Tea are probably the Portuguese.
Tofu 
lit. bean curd, from Cantonese 豆腐 (dau6 fu6).
Tong 
from Cantonese 堂 (tong4)
tung oil
from Cantonese 桐油(tun4 yau4), oil extracted from nuts of the tong tree
Tycoon 
via Japanese 大官, lit. high official; or 大君, lit. great nobleman
Typhoon 
from 颱風 (toi4 fung1) not to be confused with the monster: typhon.

W

Wok 
from Cantonese 鑊 (wok6) lit. boiler or cauldron
Won ton 
from Cantonese 雲吞 (wan4 tan1), lit. 'cloud swallow' as a description of its shape
Wushu 
from Mandarin 武術, lit. martial arts
Wuxia 
from Mandarin 武俠, lit. martial arts and chivalrous

Y

Yamen 
from Mandarin 衙門, lit. court
Yen (craving) 
from Cantonese 癮 (yan5), lit. addiction (to opium)
Yen (Japanese currency) 
Japanese 円 en, from Chinese 圓, lit. round, name of currency unit
Yin Yang 
陰陽 from Mandarin 'Yin' meaning feminine, dark and 'Yang' meaning masculine and bright

Z

Zen 
Japanese 禅, from Chinese 禪 , originally from Sanskrit ध्यान Dhyāna / Pali झन jhāna.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Harper, Douglas. "brainwashing". Online Etymology Dictionary. Dictionary.com. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  2. ↑ Oxford British & World English dictionary entry for chin-chin.
  3. 1 2 3 Partridge, Eric, and Beale, Paul (2002). A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, p. 1386. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-29189-5, ISBN 978-0-415-29189-7.
  4. ↑ (accessed on 10 March 2008)
  5. ↑ Hànyǔ means the spoken language of the Han people and pīnyīn literally means "spelled-out sounds".Pinyin

External links

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