List of English words of Chinese origin

Words of Chinese origin have entered European languages, including English. Most of these were direct loanwords from various varieties of Chinese. 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.

Sources

English words of Chinese origin usually have different characteristics, depending on precisely how the words encountered the West. Despite the increasingly widespread use of Standard Chinese—based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin—among Chinese people, English words based on Mandarin are comparatively few.

Chinese vocabulary has spread to the West by means such as:

via missionaries who were living in China. These have heavy Latin influence due to Portuguese and Spanish missionaries.
via sinologists who lived in China. These have heavy French influence due to the long history of French sinology.
via the maritime trade route, e.g. tea, Amoy, cumshaw etc. Heavily influenced by the Min Nan Amoy dialect in southern seaports.
via the early immigrants to the American West during gold rush era, e.g. chop suey. Heavily influenced by the Toisan dialect.
via the multi-national colonization of Shanghai. Influenced by many European countries, as well as Japan.
via the British colonization of Hong Kong, e.g. cheongsam. Heavily influenced by Cantonese.
via modern international communication, especially after the 1970s when the People's Republic of China reduced up travel restrictions, allowing emigration to various countries, e.g. wushu, feng shui. Heavily influenced by Mandarin.
via Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, often Sino-Xenic words, These languages historically borrowed large swaths of Chinese vocabulary, and wrote Chinese and their native language in 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 semantic 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, as they sound pretty similar to their English renderings.

Though all these following terms originated from China, the spelling of the English words depends on the direct point of contact and borrowing, as well as which transliteration scheme is typically used.

Table

English	Direct origin	Word	Transliteration	Details
Bok choy	Cantonese	白菜	baak⁶ coi³	A Chinese cabbage: lit. 'white vegetable'
Brainwash	Semantic borrowing	洗腦	xǐnǎo	A calque of Chinese 洗腦, consisting of the characters 洗; 'wash' and 腦; 'brain'. A term first used by the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War, then picked up by the American media. 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]
Cha	Cantonese	茶	cha⁴	tea, see 'tea' below
Char siu	Cantonese	叉燒	cha¹ siu¹	lit. fork roasted
Cheongsam	Cantonese	長衫（旗袍）	cheung⁴ saam¹	lit. 'long clothes', popularly used during the 19th and early 20th centuries
Chin chin, chin-chin	Mandarin	請	qǐng	lit. 'please', 'invite', an exclamation used to express good wishes before drinking—cf. Mandarin 乾杯; gānbēi; 'empty the glass', Sino-Japanese kanpai. 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	Mandarin	秦 or 晉	qín	Via Latin Sina, Persian چین Cin, and Sanskrit चीन Chinas; ultimately either from the name of the 秦; 'Qin' or 晉; 'Jin' state
Chop chop	Cantonese	速速	chuk¹ chuk¹	lit. 'hurry', 'urgent'^[3]
Chopsticks	Pidgin	筷子	Kuai zi	from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.
Chop suey	Cantonese	雜碎	jaap⁶ seui³	'mixed pieces'
Chow	Cantonese	炒	seiiau²	From meaning 'cook', perhaps based on Cantonese. lit. 'to stir fry'
Chow chow	Cantonese			any of a breed of heavy-coated blocky dogs of Chinese origin
Chow mein	Cantonese (Taishanese)	炒麵	chau² mein⁶	lit. 'stir fried noodle', from initial Chinese immigrants from Taishan came to the United States
Confucius	Jesuit Latinization	孔夫子	kǒngfūzǐ	Latinization of 'Master Kong'
Cumshaw	Hokkien (Amoy)	感謝	kám siā	feeling gratitude
Dim sum, Dim sim	Cantonese	點心	dim² sam¹	lit. '(slightly) touches the heart, skimming the heart, igniting the heart', generally an idiom meaning 'desserts, pastry (accomponied to green tea), light refreshments'
Fan-tan	Cantonese	番攤	faan¹ taan¹	'take turns scattering'
Feng shui	Mandarin	風水	fēngshuǐ	from 風; 'wind' and 水; 'water', denotes some form of aesthetic balance, generally in rooms or objects
Foo dog	Mandarin	佛	fó	Refers to the statues of lions that serve as guardians of Buddhist temples: combination of 佛; 'Buddha' and 'dog', due to the statues resembling dogs
Ginkgo	Sino-Japanese	銀杏	ginkyō	From Japanese ginkyō or ginnan
Ginseng	Hokkien	人參	jîn sim	From the name of the plant: some say the word came via the Japanese pronunciation, though 人参 now means 'carrot' in Japanese, while the modern word for 'ginseng' is 朝鮮人參, 'Korean carrot'.
Go	Sino-Japanese	圍棋	igo	Japanese name for the Chinese board game, cf. Mandarin wéiqí.
Guanxi	Mandarin	關係	guānxi	lit. 'relationship', refers to such in Chinese culture—occasionally a reference to nepotism or cronyism in Chinese business and bureaucracy
Gung-ho	Mandarin	工合	gōnghé	Short for 工業合作社; 'Chinese Industrial Cooperatives'
Gweilo	Cantonese	鬼佬	gwai² lou²	Literally 'ghost guy', used as a common slur for Westerners. Absent modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of deprecatory and pejorative use, though it has been argued that it has since acquired a more neutral connotation.
Gyoza	Sino-Japanese	餃子	gyōza	From Chinese jiǎozi; 'stuffed dumpling'. In English, refers to the fried dumpling style, as opposed to the style boiled in water.
Hanfu	Mandarin	漢服	hànfú	lit. 'Han clothing': traditional Chinese clothes, includes several varieties for both men and women.
Har gow	Cantonese	蝦餃	ha¹ gaau²	'shrimp dumpling'
Hoisin	Cantonese	海鮮	hoi² sin¹	'seafood'
Junzi	Mandarin	君子	jūnzǐ	lit. 'person of high stature'; translatable as "respectable person" or simply "gentleman"
Kanji	Sino-Japanese	漢字	kanji	Name for Chinese characters within Japanese, cf. Mandarin hànzì.
Kaolin	Mandarin	高嶺	gāolǐng	lit. 'high mountain peak', the name of a village or suburb of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, the site of a mine from which kaolin clay (高嶺土; gāolǐngtǔ) was taken to make the fine porcelain produced in Jingde.^[4]
Keemun	Cantonese	祁門	kei⁴ mun⁴	tea from Qimen
Ketchup	Hokkien (Amoy)^[5]	茄汁		In the 17th century, the Chinese mixed a concoction of pickled fish and spices, called kôe-chiap or kê-chiap in the Amoy dialect, whose meaning refers to(鮭汁) the brine of pickled fish or shellfish (鮭; 'salmon', 汁; 'juice'). By the early 18th century, the sauce had made it to the Malay peninsula, where it was later discovered by English explorers. That word then gradually evolved into the English word "ketchup", and was taken to the American colonies by English settlers.
Koan	Sino-Japanese	公案	kōan	cf. Mandarin 公案; gōng'àn; 'public record'
Kowtow	Cantonese	叩頭	kau³ tau⁴	'knock head'
Kumquat, cumquat	Cantonese	柑橘	gam¹ gwat¹	'tangerine'
Kung fu	Cantonese	功夫	gung¹ fu¹	lit. 'efforts', used in English to collectively describe Chinese martial arts
Lo mein	Cantonese	撈麵	lou¹ min⁶	'scooped noodle'
Longan	Cantonese	龍眼	lung⁴ ngaan⁵	lit. 'dragon's eye'
Long time no see	Semantic borrowing from Mandarin^[3]	好久不見	hǎojiǔbùjiàn	—
Loquat	Cantonese	蘆橘	lou⁴ gwat¹	Archaic name for the fruit
Lychee	Cantonese	荔枝	lai⁶ ji¹	twigs of cat-tail like grass
Mao-tai, moutai	Mandarin	茅台酒	máotáijiǔ	liquor from Maotai, Guizhou
Mahjong	Cantonese	麻將	ma⁴ jeung³	sparrow checkmate, short for 'hemp sparrow warfare, hemp sparrow being the term for house sparrow, and sparrow warfare (麻雀戰, 麻雀战) a form of guerilla warfare tactics.
Monsoon	Cantonese	滿水	mun⁵ seoi²	'full of water'
Mu shu	Mandarin	木須	mùxū	'wood shredded pork'
Nankeen	Mandarin	南京	Nánjīng	The name for city, sometimes used in English to refer to the durable, buff-colored cotton cloth originally produced there
No can do	Semantic borrowing	唔可以 (Cantonese), 不可以 (Mandarin)	m⁴ ho²yi⁵; bù kěyǐ	Calque,^[3] though also possibly a calque of Mandarin 不能做; bùnéng zùo; 'no can do'.
Nunchuk	Hokkien (Taiwan, Fujian)	雙節棍, 兩節棍	nng-chat-kun	Via Okinawan Japanese, lit. 'pair of joined sticks, double jointed sticks'
Oolong	Hokkien (Amoy)	烏龍	oo liong	'dark dragon'
Pai gow	Cantonese	排九	paai⁴ gau²	lit. 'row of nine', 'line of nine'
Paper tiger	Semantic borrowing	纸老虎	zhǐlǎohǔ	Calque of an idiom referring to something or someone whose claims or appearances of threat or power are paper-thin, actually being ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. Became well known internationally by its use by Mao Zedong to refer to his against his political opponents, particularly the American government.
Pekin	Cantonese	北京	bak¹ ging¹	From an older romanization of the Cantonese reading of Beijing
Pidgin	Mandarin	皮钦语	píqīnyǔ	lit. 'naughty respect language, case-hardened ('thick-skinned') respect language'
Pinyin	Mandarin	拼音	pīnyīn	'put together sounds', 'spelled-out sounds'
Pekoe	Hokkien (Amoy)	白毫	pe̍khô	'white downy hair'
Pongee	Cantonese	本機		lit. 'our own loom', 'homespun', a kind of thin silk
Pu'er, puerh	Mandarin	普洱	pǔ'ěr	Named after a city
Qi, ch'i	Mandarin	氣	qì	Energy of an object or person, lit. 'air', 'spirit'.^[a]
Qipao	Mandarin	旗袍	qípáo	—
Ramen	Sino-Japanese	拉麵	rāmen	cf. Mandarin lāmiàn
Rickshaw	Sino-Japanese	人力車	rénlìchē	Japanese neologism, jinrikisha (c. 1887) composed of semantic elements 人; 'human', 力; 'power' and 車; 'vehicle'.
Sampan	Cantonese	舢舨	saan¹ baan²	—
Shanghai	Mandarin	上海	Shànghǎi	The city name, used in English as a verb meaning 'to put someone aboard a ship by trickery or intoxication', or generally 'to put someone in a bad situation by trickery'. From an old practice of deceitful acquiring sailors for voyages to Shanghai
Shantung	Mandarin	山東	Shāndōng	The Wade-Giles romanization of the province's name, used in English to refer to a wild silk fabric, usually undyed.
Shaolin	Mandarin	少林	shàolín	—
Shar pei	Cantonese	沙皮	sa¹ pei⁴	'sand skin'
Shih tzu	Taiwanese Mandarin	獅子狗	shih tzu³ kou³	lit. 'lion child dog', Chinese lion
Shogun	Sino-Japanese	將軍	shōgun	lit. 'military general', the full Japanese title was 征夷大将軍, Seii Taishōgun, 'generalissimo who overcomes the barbarians'
Siu mai	Cantonese	燒賣	siu¹ maai²	pork dumplings, lit. 'to cook and sell'
Sifu	Cantonese	師傅	si¹ fu²	'master'
Souchong	Cantonese	小種茶	siu² jung² cha⁴	'small kind of tea
Soy	Sino-Japanese	醬油	shōyu	cf. Mandarin pinyin: jiàngyóu
Struggle session	Semantic calque from Mandarin	批斗大会	pīdòudàhuì	According to Lin Yutang, the expression comes from 批判; pīpàn; 'to criticize and judge' and 鬥爭; dòuzhēng; 'to fight and contest', so the whole expression conveys the message of 'inciting spirited judgment and fighting'. It was often shortened to 批鬥; pīdòu.^{[citation needed]} The term refers to a phenomenon especially prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, where public sessions were ostensibly held for the benefit the target, intending to eliminate counterrevolutionary, reactionary thinking.^{[citation needed]}
Tai chi	Mandarin	太極	tàijí	From the Wade-Giles romanization of taijiquan (i.e., "tʻai chi chʻüan"), meaning 'great ultimate boxing'
Tai-pan	Cantonese	大班	daai⁶ baan¹	equivalent to "big shot"
Tangram	Compound word	唐	táng	from Tang + English gram
Tao, Dao	Mandarin	道	dào	'way', path'
Tea	Hokkien	茶	tê	In most European languages, where the word resembles te, tea generally originated in the Amoy port. The other common word for tea worldwide, usually in places where tea generally came via the Silk Road, derives from the Mandarin pronunciation with the same Old Chinese etymology.
Tofu	Sino-Japanese	豆腐	tōfu	cf. Mandarin dòufu
Tong	Cantonese	堂	tong⁴	—
Tung oil	Cantonese	桐油	tung⁴ yau⁴	—
Tycoon	Sino-Japanese	大君	taikun	'great nobleman'
Typhoon	Hokkien (Taiwanese),^[6] Cantonese, or Mandarin	颱風	thai-hong	lit. 'wind coming from Taiwan', usually hong-thai in contemperary Taiwanese, cf. Cantonese toi⁴ fung¹
Wok	Cantonese	鑊	wok⁶	—
Wonton	Cantonese	雲吞	wan⁴ tan¹	homophone in Cantonese with the original 餛飩, cf. Mandarin húntún, lit. 'cloud swallow', describing its shape
Wushu	Mandarin	武術	wǔshù	—
Wuxia	Mandarin	武俠	wǔxiá	—
Yamen	Mandarin	衙門	yámén	'court'
Yen	Cantonese	癮	yan⁵	Craving, usually in reference to opium addition, lit. 'addiction'
Yen	Sino-Japanese	圓	en	cf. Mandarin yuán, lit. 'round', 'name of currency unit'
Yin yang	Mandarin	陰陽	yīnyáng	Yin meaning 'feminine', 'dark' and yang meaning 'masculine', 'bright'
Yuanfen	Mandarin, Vietnamese	緣分	yuánfèn	lit. 'fateful coincidence'—similar conceptually to karma, but interactive instead of individualized, predestination without divine implications
Zen	Sino-Japanese	禪	zen	cf. Mandarin chán, originally from Sanskrit ध्यान Dhyāna, Pali झन jhāna.

Notes

^ This word has the Wade–Giles romanization of ch'i, but the rough breathing mark—replaced by an apostrophe in most texts—has largely disappeared in colloquial English.

References

^ Harper, Douglas. "brainwashing". Online Etymology Dictionary. Dictionary.com. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
^ Oxford British & World English dictionary entry for chin-chin.
^ ^a ^b ^c 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.
^ (accessed on 10 March 2008) Archived 24 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
^ Andrew F. Smith (1996). Pure Ketchup: A History of America's National Condiment, with Recipes. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 5.
^ "Meteorology Encyclopedia". Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan (R.O.C.).

External links

[6] This word has the Wade–Giles romanization of ch'i, but the rough breathing mark—replaced by an apostrophe in most texts—has largely disappeared in colloquial English.

[1] Harper, Douglas. "brainwashing". Online Etymology Dictionary. Dictionary.com. Retrieved January 15, 2012.

[2] Oxford British & World English dictionary entry for chin-chin.

[patridge-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) Archived 24 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine

[5] Andrew F. Smith (1996). Pure Ketchup: A History of America's National Condiment, with Recipes. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 5.

[7] "Meteorology Encyclopedia". Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan (R.O.C.).

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