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 loanwords

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

Some words spread to the West ...

• via the silk road, e.g. silk. These have heavy influence from countries along the silk road.
• via the missionaries who lived in China. These have heavy Latin influence due the Portuguese and Spanish missionaries.
• via the sinologists who lived in China. These have heavy French influence due to the long history of French involvement in Sinology.
• via the maritime trade route, e.g. tea, Amoy, cumshaw etc. These have heavy influence from the Amoy dialect in southern seaports.
• via the early immigrants to the US in the gold rush era, e.g. chop suey. These have heavy influence from the Toisan dialect.
• via the multi-national colonization of Shanghai. These have influence from many European countries, also Japan.
• via the British colonisation of Hong Kong, e.g. cheongsam. These have heavy influence from Cantonese.
• via modern international communication especially after the 1970s when the People's Republic of China opened its iron curtain to let her people emigrate to various countries, e.g. wushu, feng shui etc. These have heavy influence from Mandarin.
• via Japanese and (possibly) Korean and Vietnamese. These languages have borrowed large amounts of Chinese vocabulary in the past, written in the form of Chinese characters. The pronunciation of such loanwords is not based directly on Chinese, but on the local pronunciation of Chinese loanwords in these languages, known as Sino-Japanese, Sino-Korean, and Sino-Vietnamese. In addition, the individual characters were extensively used as building blocks for local neologisms with no counterpart in the original Chinese, resulting in words whose relationship to the Chinese language is similar to the relationship between new Latinate words (particularly those that form a large part of the international scientific vocabulary) and Latin. Such words are excluded from the list.

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

Contents
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Top of page — See also — External links

B

Brainwashing 

A direct translation from Chinese 洗脑 xǐ nǎo (where 洗 literally means "wash", while 脑 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.

Bok choy 

(Cantonese) 白菜 （baakchoi), a Chinese cabbage: literally 'white vegetable'

C

Char 

colloquial English word for 'tea', originally from Chinese 茶 (Mandarin chá).

Cheongsam 

from Cantonese 長衫 (cheungsaam), lit. long clothes.

China 

via Latin from the name of the Ch'in Dynasty 秦

Chop chop 

from Cantonese chuk chuk 速速, lit. hurry, urgent

Chopsticks 

from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.

Chop suey 

from Cantonese 雜碎 (tzapseui), lit. mixed pieces

Chow 

from Chinese Pidgin English chowchow which means food, perhaps based on Cantonese 炒, 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

Dalai Lama 

the lama who is the chief spiritual adviser of the Dalai Lama. 班禅喇嘛-- Dalai Lama Etymology -- Panchen from Chinese (Beijing) b*nch*n Date-- 1794. The word Lama (Tibetan Blama) is used in an English translation of Martini’s Conquest of China in 1654; Dalai-lama in 1698.

Dim sum and Dim sim 

from Cantonese 點心 (dimsam), lit. little heart

F

Fan-tan 

from Cantonese 番攤 (fāntān), lit. (take) turns scattering

Feng shui 

from feng, wind and shui, water 風水

Foo dog 

from Mandarin 佛 fó Buddha (from their use as guardians of Buddhist temples)

G

Ginkgo 

mistransliteration of 銀杏 in Japanese

Ginseng 

from Mandarin 人參 (renshen), name of the plant. Some say the word came via Japanese (same kanji), although 人参 now means 'carrot' in Japanese; ginseng is 朝鮮人参 ('Korean carrot').

Go 

From the Japanese name igo 囲碁 of the Chinese board game. Chinese 围棋, Mandarin: Weiqi.

Gung-ho 

from Mandarin 工合, short for 工業合作社

Gyoza 

Japanese ギョーザ, gairaigo from Chinese 餃子 (Mandarin: Jiaozi), stuffed dumpling. Gyoza refers to the style found in Japan.

H

Hoisin (sauce) 

from Cantonese 海鮮 (hoísin), lit. seafood

K

Kanji 

Japanese name for Chinese characters: 漢字, lit. Chinese characters. Chinese: Hàn zì.

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. See http://kepu.jsinfo.gov.cn/big5/mineral/sight/sgh516.html (accessed on 10 March 2008).

Keemun 

kind of tea, 祁門 Mandarin qímén

Ketchup 

possibly from Cantonese or Amoy 茄汁, lit. tomato sauce/juice

Koan 

Japanese 公案 kōan, from Chinese 公案 (Mandarin gōng'àn), lit. public record

Kowtow 

from Cantonese 叩頭 (Mandarin, kòu tóu) , lit. knock head

Kumquat or cumquat

from Cantonese name of the fruit 柑橘 (Gamgwat)

Kung fu 

the English term to collectively describe Chinese martial arts; from Cantonese 功夫 (Gongfu), lit. efforts

L

Lo mein 

from Cantonese 撈麵 (lòu-mihn), lit. scooped noodle

Longan 

from Cantonese 龍眼, name of the fruit

Loquat 

from Cantonese 蘆橘, old name of the fruit

Lychee 

from Cantonese 荔枝 (laitzi), name of the fruit

M

Mao-tai or moutai

from Mandarin 茅台酒 (máotái jiǔ), liquor from Maotai (Guizhou province)

Mahjong 

from Mandarin 麻將 (ma jiang), lit. the mahjong game

Mu shu (pork) 

from Mandarin 木須 (mùxū), lit. wood shredded

N

Nankeen

Chinese, from Chinese, a durable cotton, buff-colored cloth originally made in 南京 (Nán Jīng).

Nunchaku 

Okinawan Japanese, from Min (Taiwan/Fujian) 雙節棍, lit. double jointed sticks

O

Oolong 

from Amoy 烏龍, lit. dark dragon

P

Paigow 

from Cantonese 排九, a gambling game

Pekin

from southern Mandarin 北京, a patterned silk cloth

Pinyin 

from Mandarin 拼音, lit. put together sounds

Pekoe 

from Amoy 白毫, lit. white downy hair

Q

Qi 

from Mandarin 氣 (qì), air

Qipao 

from 旗袍 (qípáo), female traditional Chinese 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, the name of such vessel.

shanghai 

from Chinese city Shanghai, 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, lit. sand skin.

Shih Tzu 

from Mandarin 獅子狗, lit. Chinese lion dog

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"

Sifu 

from Cantonese 师傅, (Mandarin shīfu), master.

Silk 

possibly from 'si' 絲, lit. silk

Souchong 

from Cantonese 小種茶 (siúchúng ch'ā), lit. small kind tea

Soy 

From Japanese shoyu 醤油, Chinese 醬油, (Mandarin jiàngyóu).

T

Tai Chi 

from Mandarin 太極

Tai-Pan 

from Cantonese 大班 (daaibaan), 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 Amoy 茶

Tofu 

Japanese 豆腐, lit. bean curd from Chinese 豆腐 (Mandarin dòufu).

Tong 

from Cantonese 堂

tung oil

from Chinese 桐油 tóng yóu, oil expressed from nuts of the tong tree

Tycoon 

via Japanese 大官, lit. high official; or 大君, lit. great nobleman

Typhoon 

颱風 not to be confused with the monster typhon. See also other possible Arabic origin.^{[citation needed]}

W

Wok 

from Cantonese 鑊

Won ton 

from Cantonese 雲吞 , lit. 'cloud swallow' as a description of its shape, similar to Mandarin 餛飩

Wushu 

from Mandarin 武術, lit. martial arts

Wuxia 

from Mandarin 武侠 , lit. martial arts and chivalrous

Y

Yamen 

from Mandarin 衙門, lit. court

Yen (craving) 

from Cantonese 癮, lit. addiction (to opium)

Yen (Japanese currency) 

Japanese 円 en, from Chinese 圓 (Mandarin yuán), 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 (Mandarin Chán), originally from Sanskrit Dhyāna / Pali jhāna.

For a list of words relating to with Chinese language origins, see the Chinese derivations category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also

• Category:Chinese words and phrases
  • Category:Cantonese words and phrases
  • Category:Mandarin words and phrases
  • Category:Chinese martial arts terms
• List of Spanish words of Chinese origin

External links

• Chinese Loanwords
• English Words from Chinese