otaku

Etymology

From Japanese オタク (otaku), which grew out of お宅 (otaku), a formal way of saying "your home" or "you." Fans in the early-1980s Macross anime fandom used it to address each other, and outsiders picked it up as a label — originally a bit of an insult, later reclaimed with pride by fans themselves.

Origin: Japanese · First attested 1980

Class of 1980

otaku first entered the language around 1980. Other words from the same year: