Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1720s
Samurai
from samurai
- Meaning
- A member of the Japanese warrior caste of the feudal era.
- Source word
- samurai
- Route into English
- Japanese *samurai* (one who serves) → English via 19th-century scholarship. The class was abolished in the 1870s Meiji reforms; the word lived on.
- Arrived
- 1720s
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.