Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1970s (Japan), 1990s (English)
Karaoke
from kara + ōkesutora — "empty orchestra"
- Meaning
- Recorded instrumental tracks for amateur singing.
- Source word
- kara + ōkesutora — "empty orchestra"
- Route into English
- Invented by musician Daisuke Inoue in Kobe in 1971; the machine and the word travelled together across the Pacific in the 1980s.
- Arrived
- 1970s (Japan), 1990s (English)
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.