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 ...

• 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 Bamboo Curtain to let its people immigrate 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 dialect the transliterations came from.

The List

English Word	Origin of Word	Chinese Word	Phonetic transliteration	Description
Bok choy	Cantonese	白菜	baak^6 choi^3	A Chinese cabbage: lit. 'white vegetable'
Brainwashing	Literal translation	洗腦		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]
Catsup	Cantonese	茄汁	ke^2 jap^1	see Ketchup
Char	Cantonese	茶	cha^4	Colloquial English word for 'tea'
Cheongsam	Cantonese	長衫	cheung^4 saam^1	lit. long clothes. Popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Ch'i or "qi"	Mandarin	氣	qì	Energy of an object or person, literally 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	Mandarin	請	qǐng	An exclamation used to express good wishes before drinking, lit. "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	Mandarin	秦 or 晉	qín	Via Latin Sina, Persian چین Cin, and Sanskrit चीन Chinas; ultimately from the name of the Qin 秦 or Jin 晉
Chop chop	Cantonese	速速	chuk^1 chuk^1	lit. hurry, urgent[3]
Chopsticks	Pidgin	n/a		from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.
Chop suey	Cantonese	雜碎	jaap^6 seui^3	lit. mixed pieces
Chow	Cantonese	炒	chaau^2	From "chow chow" which means food, perhaps based on Cantonese. Lit. stir fry (cooking)
Chow chow	Cantonese			any of a breed of heavy-coated blocky dogs of Chinese origin
Chow mein	Cantonese (Taishanese)	炒麵	chau mein	lit. stir fried noodle, when the first Chinese immigrants from Taishan came to the United States.
Confucius	Jesuit latinization	孔夫子	kôngfūzî	Latinized form of 'Master Kong'
Cumshaw	Hokkien (Amoy)	感謝	kám siā	feeling gratitude
Dalai Lama	Mongolian and Tibetan	Далай and བླ་མ		The name is a combination of the Mongolian word Далай "Dalai" meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ "Blama" (with a silent b) meaning "chief" or "high priest."[4] The name literally means "Ocean Teacher."-, the lama who is the chief spiritual adviser of the Dalai Lama. 班禅喇嘛—Dalai Lama Etymology—Panchen from Chinese (Beijing). The word Lama (Tibetan Blama) is used in an English translation of Martini's Conquest of China in 1654-1698.
Dim sum and Dim sim	Cantonese	點心	dim^2 sam^1	lit. touches the heart
Fan-tan	Cantonese	番攤	faan^1 taan^1	lit. (take) turns scattering
Feng shui	Mandarin	風水	fēngshuǐ	from feng, wind and shui, water; (slang) Denotes an object or scene which is aesthetically balanced (generally used in construction or design)
Foo dog	Mandarin	佛	fó	Buddha (from their use as guardians of Buddhist temples)
Ginkgo	Sino-Japanese	銀杏		mistransliteration of ginkyō or ginnan in Japanese
Ginseng	Hokkien	人參	jîn sim	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	Sino-Japanese	圍棋	igo	Japanese name (囲碁) of the Chinese board game. Chinese 圍棋, Mandarin: Weiqi.
Guanxi	Mandarin	關係	guānxi	Refers to connections or relationships in Chinese culture. It is occasionally a reference to nepotism or cronyism among Chinese businesses and bureaucracies.
Gung-ho	Mandarin	工合	gōng hé	Short for 工業合作社
Gyoza	Japanese (Gairaigo)	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).
Hanfu	Mandarin	漢服	hànfú	lit. Han clothing. Traditional Chinese clothes; it includes several varieties for both men and women.
Har gow	Cantonese	蝦餃	ha^1 gaau^2	lit. shrimp dumpling
Hoisin (sauce)	Cantonese	海鮮	hoi^2 sin^1	lit. seafood
Kanji	Sino-Japanese	漢字		Japanese name for Chinese characters. Chinese: Hànzì.
Kaolin	Mandarin	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.[5]
Keemun	Cantonese	祁門	kei^4 mun^4	tea from Qimen in China
Ketchup	Hokkien (Amoy)[6]	茄汁		In the 17th century, the Chinese mixed a concoction of pickled fish and spices and called it (in the Amoy dialect) kôe-chiap or kê-chiap (鮭汁) meaning the brine of pickled fish (鮭, salmon; 汁, juice) or shellfish.By the early 18th century, the sauce had made it to the Malay states (present day Malaysia and Singapore), 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	From Chinese 公案 (Mandarin gōng'àn), lit. public record
Kowtow	Cantonese	叩頭	kau^3 tau^4	lit. knock head
Kumquat or cumquat	Cantonese	柑橘	gam^1 gwat^1	Name for tangerines
Kung fu	Cantonese	功夫	gung^1 fu^1	the English term to collectively describe Chinese martial arts, lit. efforts
Lo mein	Cantonese	撈麵	lou^1 min^6	literally scooped noodle
Longan	Cantonese	龍眼	lung^4 ngaan^5	name of the fruit, literally "Dragon's eye"
Long time no see	Cantonese	好耐冇見	hou^2 noi^6 mou^5 gin^3	a common greeting literally translated[3]
Loquat	Cantonese	蘆橘	lou^4 gwat^1	old name of the fruit
Lychee	Cantonese	荔枝	lai^6 ji^1	name of the fruit
Mao-tai or moutai	Mandarin	茅台酒	máotái jiǔ	liquor from Maotai (Guizhou province)
Mahjong	Cantonese	麻將	ma^4 jeung^3	lit. the mahjong game
Mu shu	Mandarin	木須	mùxū	lit. wood shredded pork
Nankeen	Mandarin	南京	Nanking	Durable cotton, buff-colored cloth originally made in the city Nanjing (Nánjīng, previously romanized as Nanking).
No can do	Literal translation	唔可以 (Cantonese); 不可以 (Mandarin)	m^4 ho^2yi^5, or Bù kěyǐ	Literal translation of no [3]
Nunchaku	Hokkien (Taiwan/Fujian)	雙節棍 / 兩節棍	nng-chat-kun	Via Okinawan Japanese, lit. double jointed sticks
Oolong	Hokkien (Amoy)	烏龍	oo liong	lit. dark dragon
Pai gow	Cantonese	排九	paai^4 gau^2	a gambling game
Pekin	Cantonese	北京	bak^1 ging^1	a patterned silk cloth
Pinyin	Mandarin	拼音	pīnyīn	lit. put together sounds; spelled-out sounds[7]
Pekoe	Hokkien (Amoy)	白毫	pe̍khô	lit. white downy hair
pongee	Cantonese	本機		lit. our own loom, homespun, and so a kind of thin silk
Qi	Mandarin	氣	qì	air
Qipao	Mandarin	旗袍	qípáo	lit. Manchurian dress. Manchurian ethnic female clothing (male version: cheongsam)
Ramen	Sino-Japanese	拉麵	lāmiàn	The word for Japanese noodle (Japanese ラーメン, gairaigo) uses the sound from the Chinese pronunciation of the characters, which means pulled noodle. Ramen refers to a particular style flavored to Japanese taste and is somewhat different from Chinese lamian.
Rickshaw	Sino-Japanese	人力車	rénlìchē	A Japanese neologism, jinrikisha (c. 1887) composed of Chinese elements 人 (rén/jin) "human," 力 (lì/riki) "power," and 車 (chē/sha) "vehicle."
Sampan	Cantonese	舢舨	saan^1 baan^2	the name of such vessel.
shanghai	Mandarin	上海	shànghâi	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	Mandarin	山東	shāndōng	"shantung" (or sometimes "Shantung") is a wild silk fabric made from the silk of wild silkworms and is usually undyed.
Shaolin	Mandarin	少林	shàolín	One of the most important Kungfu clans.
Shar Pei	Cantonese	沙皮	sa^1 pei^4	lit. sand skin.
Shih Tzu	Mandarin	獅子狗	shih tzu^3 kou^3	lit. lion child dog (Chinese lion)
Shogun	Sino-Japanese	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	Cantonese	燒賣	siu^1 maai^2	pork dumplings, lit. to cook and sell
Sifu	Cantonese	師傅	si^1 fu^2	master.
Souchong	Cantonese	小種茶	siu^2 jung^2 cha^4	lit. small kind tea
Soy	Sino-Japanese	醬油		Japanese pronunciation of shoyu
Tai Chi	Mandarin	太極	tàijí	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	Cantonese	大班	daai^6 baan^1	lit. big rank (similar to big shot)
Tangram	Compound word	唐	tang	from Tang + English gram
Tao　 and Taoism (also Dao/Daoism)	Mandarin	道	dào	The Way or the path
Tea	Hokkien	茶	tê	In Portuguese, Tea is pronounced as Cha(茶), so the earlier traders of Tea are probably the Portuguese.
Tofu	Sino-Japanese	豆腐		The Japanese pronounciation tōfu from Mandarin pronounciation dòufu.
Tong	Cantonese	堂	tong^4
tung oil	Cantonese	桐油	tung^4 yau^4	oil extracted from nuts of the tong tree
Tycoon	Sino-Japanese	大官		lit. high official; or 大君, lit. great nobleman
Typhoon	Hokkien (Taiwanese) [8] or Cantonese	颱風	thai-hong (usu. hong-thai in Taiwanese now); toi^4 fung^1 (Cantonese)	not to be confused with the monster: typhon.
Wok	Cantonese	鑊	wok^6	lit. boiler or cauldron
Wonton	Cantonese	雲吞	wan^4 tan^1	lit. 'cloud swallow' as a description of its shape
Wushu	Mandarin	武術	wǔshù	lit. martial arts
Wuxia	Mandarin	武俠	wǔxiá	lit. martial arts and chivalrous
Yamen	Mandarin	衙門	yámén	lit. court
Yen	Cantonese	癮	yan^5	Craving: lit. addiction (to opium)
Yen (Japanese currency)	Sino-Japanese	円	en	from Chinese 圓, lit. round, name of currency unit
Yin Yang	Mandarin	陰陽	yīnyáng	'Yin' meaning feminine, dark and 'Yang' meaning masculine and bright
Zen	Sino-Japanese	禅	chán	from Chinese 禪 , originally from Sanskrit ध्यान Dhyāna / Pali झन jhāna.

See also

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

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. 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. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lama
5. (accessed on 10 March 2008)
6. Andrew F. Smith (1996). Pure Ketchup: A History of America's National Condiment, with Recipes. Univ of South Carolina Press,. p. 5.
7. Hànyǔ means the spoken language of the Han people and pīnyīn literally means "spelled-out sounds".Pinyin
8. "Meteorology Encyclopedia". Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan (R.O.C.).

External links

• Chinese Loanwords
• English Words from Chinese