Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1880s
Rickshaw
from jinrikisha
- Meaning
- A two-wheeled passenger cart pulled by a person.
- Source word
- jinrikisha
- Route into English
- Japanese *jinrikisha* (human-power-vehicle) → English as a clipped form. Invented in Japan around 1869 and exported throughout Asia; the cycle-rickshaw is a later South Asian development.
- Arrived
- 1880s
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.