Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1980s
Anime
from アニメ (anime)
- Meaning
- Japanese-style animated film or television.
- Source word
- アニメ (anime)
- Route into English
- Japanese *anime* (itself a shortening of English "animation") → re-borrowed into English as a specific style, starting in the 1980s → universal by the 2000s. A round-trip loanword.
- Arrived
- 1980s
From Japanese
Two waves — Meiji-era diplomatic contact (1850s–1900s) and post-war US military presence (1945–) account for almost all Japanese loans in general English.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.