Words With Chinese Origins

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90 Words

1 banzai A Japanese cheer or war cry, roughly meaning "long live," shouted to express enthusiasm, celebrate a victory,...
2 Beijing The capital city of China.
3 brainwash To forcibly and systematically pressure someone into abandoning their existing beliefs and adopting new ones.
4 brainwashing The systematic use of pressure, repetition, or coercion to make someone abandon their beliefs for another set...
5 Burmese Relating to Burma (Myanmar), or to its people, culture, or language.
6 Chen A common Chinese surname.
7 Cheung A Cantonese surname.
8 China A large country in East Asia, the People's Republic of China.
9 Chong A surname of Chinese or Korean origin.
10 chopstick One of a pair of slender sticks used, held in one hand, to pick up and eat food, especially in East Asian cuis...
11 chow Informal: food, especially a meal or snack.
12 chu A sound imitating a kiss.
13 daimyo A powerful feudal lord in pre-modern Japan who controlled large areas of land.
14 dao A traditional Chinese single-edged sword with a curved blade, used mainly for slashing and chopping.
15 dong The basic unit of currency in Vietnam.
16 doot A Scots dialect word meaning to doubt or suspect.
17 futon A thin, padded cotton mattress that can be laid on the floor or placed on a folding frame that converts betwee...
18 ginseng A plant with a forked, root that is dried and used in traditional medicine and supplements, believed to boost...
19 Gui A Chinese surname, from Mandarin.
20 haiku A short Japanese poem written in three lines, traditionally with five, seven, and five syllable-like units, of...
21 han A deep, culturally specific feeling of sorrow, resentment, and unresolved grief in Korean identity.
22 Hangzhou A city in eastern China, the capital of Zhejiang province and a former imperial capital.
23 hoa An old-fashioned shout used to get someone's attention, similar to "hey" or "ho."
24 hong A historical foreign trading company or firm in China.
25 Hou A Chinese surname, also the name of a town near Xi'an, China.
26 Hwang A Korean surname.
27 Jang A group of fermented seasoning pastes, such as soy sauce or soybean paste, used as the flavor base in Korean c...
28 jiao A Chinese unit of currency equal to one tenth of a yuan.
29 Jie An ancient nomadic people of northern China, historically grouped by the Han Chinese among the so-called "Five...
30 ju A unit of a traditional Chinese book, roughly equivalent to a chapter or volume.
31 kana The two Japanese phonetic writing systems, hiragana and katakana, in which each symbol represents a spoken syl...
32 kang A traditional heated platform bed found in northern China, built from brick or clay and warmed from beneath.
33 Ke A Chinese surname.
34 Kee A surname, sometimes a shortened form of McKee or an anglicization of Chinese surnames.
35 ketchup A thick, tangy tomato-based sauce commonly used as a condiment.
36 kI The life force or inner energy said to flow through the body, central to martial arts such as aikido and karat...
37 kirin A mythical hooved chimerical creature from East Asian folklore, similar to the qilin; the term is typically us...
38 Kowloon A densely populated peninsula and urban area of Hong Kong, across the harbor from Hong Kong Island.
39 kowtow To kneel and bow so low that the forehead touches the ground, as a sign of deep respect or submission.
40 kuya In Filipino usage, an older brother, or a respectful term used to address or refer to an older male, whether o...
41 lah A sentence-ending word used in Singapore/Malaysia English and similar varieties to add emphasis, reassurance,...
42 lau (dialectal) To lay or set something down onto a surface.
43 Leung A Chinese (Cantonese) surname.
44 li A traditional Chinese unit of distance, now standardized at about half a kilometer.
45 liang A traditional Chinese unit of weight, roughly 40 grams, historically also used to measure silver currency.
46 liao (Chinese, and in Singlish/Manglish) A word placed at the end of a sentence to show that an action is finished...
47 Lim A common Korean surname.
48 lor A sentence-ending word (used mainly in Singlish and similar dialects) that adds a tone of resignation, inevita...
49 Lui A Chinese surname, a romanization of a Cantonese family name.
50 Luk A surname derived from a Cantonese Chinese family name.
51 Ly A Vietnamese surname.
52 mah A sentence-final particle (used in some varieties of English influenced by Cantonese) implying something is ob...
53 Maltese Relating to Malta, its people, or its language.
54 manga A comic or graphic novel originating in Japan.
55 manju A traditional Japanese confection with a soft outer dough and a sweet filling, often red bean paste.
56 Miao The Miao, an ethnic group from China and Vietnam whose languages belong to the Hmong-Mien family.
57 momo A steamed or fried dumpling from Nepal, Tibet, and neighbouring Himalayan regions, filled with meat or vegetab...
58 mou A sentence-final particle used in some Chinese dialects to turn a statement into a yes/no question.
59 mui The Chinese plum, a small sour fruit often preserved in salt, sugar, or licorice.
60 oolong A partially fermented Chinese tea that sits between green and black tea in flavor and processing.
61 Piao A Chinese surname.
62 ramen A Japanese noodle soup dish made with wheat noodles in a savoury broth, typically topped with meat, egg, or ve...
63 se A large Chinese plucked string instrument similar to a zither, traditionally strung with 25 strings and played...
64 shanghai To trick or force someone into doing something, or going somewhere, against their will.
65 Shek A surname of Cantonese origin.
66 shen In Chinese folk religion, a spirit or deity.
67 shifu A respected master or teacher, especially of a martial art or craft; a variant spelling of sifu.
68 Shinto Japan's indigenous religion, centred on the worship of nature spirits and ancestors.
69 sifu A skilled teacher or master in Chinese martial arts such as kung fu or tai chi.
70 Sui A member of an ethnic group native to Guizhou province in southern China, numbering around 430,000 people.
71 taipan A foreign business executive or tycoon, especially historically in China.
72 tao In Taoism, the fundamental principle underlying and unifying the universe, and the natural way of living in ha...
73 tofu A soft food made by pressing curdled soy milk into blocks, high in protein.
74 toyo Soy sauce, especially in Filipino cooking and English.
75 tung The tung tree, an East Asian tree whose seeds are pressed for tung oil, a fast-drying oil used in wood finishi...
76 udon A thick, chewy Japanese noodle made from wheat flour.
77 Viennese Of or relating to Vienna.
78 Vietnamese Of or relating to Vietnam, its people, culture, or language.
79 wang Vulgar slang for the penis.
80 Wei The name of several ancient Chinese states and a kingdom, including a major power during the Three Kingdoms pe...
81 wok A large, round-bottomed pan used for stir-frying and other East Asian cooking.
82 wonton A small Chinese dumpling, typically filled with meat or seafood and served in soup or fried.
83 Wu A group of closely related Chinese language varieties spoken around the lower Yangtze River, including Shangha...
84 yang In Chinese philosophy, the active, bright, hot, and masculine principle that pairs with yin to form a balanced...
85 yen The official currency of Japan, symbol ¥.
86 yin In Chinese philosophy, the passive, dark, and feminine principle, traditionally paired with yang.
87 yu An ornate bronze wine vessel used in ancient China, often fitted with a decorative lid.
88 yue A traditional unit of volume used in ancient China, roughly equal to the space taken up by 1,200 millet seeds.
89 yuen A crowned or pileated gibbon, a small ape native to Southeast Asia.
90 Yun A surname found in Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Khmer.