Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1900s
Zen
from zen
- Meaning
- Meditation — the Japanese pronunciation of Chinese *chán*, itself from Sanskrit *dhyāna*.
- Source word
- zen
- Route into English
- Sanskrit → Chinese → Japanese → English via D.T. Suzuki's mid-20th-century popularisations. The casual "zen mode" sense is a 1990s tech-industry extension.
- Arrived
- 1900s
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.