Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1940s
Dojo
from dōjō
- Meaning
- A training hall for martial arts.
- Source word
- dōjō
- Route into English
- Japanese *dōjō* (place of the way, from Sanskrit *bodhimaṇḍa* via Buddhism) → English via post-war martial-arts spread. Originally a meditation hall in Japanese Buddhism; the martial-arts sense is secondary in Japanese too.
- Arrived
- 1940s
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.