Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1970s
Feng shui
from fēngshuǐ
- Meaning
- Literally "wind-water" — the system of harmonising buildings and objects with their environment.
- Source word
- fēngshuǐ
- Route into English
- Mandarin 風水 → English via 1970s California interior-design culture. Hong Kong expatriate practitioners carried it globally during the 1980s skyscraper boom.
- Arrived
- 1970s
From Chinese
Trade English from the South China Sea ports (especially Hokkien-speaking Xiamen and Canton) seeded the early borrowings; 20th-century diplomacy and military contact added the rest.
English borrows.
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