anime

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæ.nɪ.meɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Japanese アニメ (anime, “animation”), short for アニメーション (animēshon),^[2][3] which is borrowed from English animation;^[2][3] SOED derives it instead from French animé (“animated”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Japanese animated film: about 1985 in Etymonline,^[3] 1985 in MWU,^[2] the late 20th century in SOED.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that the word seems to have arisen in Japan in the 1970s; before that, Japanese animations were called manga eiga or TV manga, and anime are often based on manga comics, so the two terms are somewhat confused in English.^[3] SOED describes the genre as typically science fiction, characterized by violence, eroticism or anarchy;^[4] Collins compares its themes and styles with those of manga.^[5]

Timeline

• 1970s – the word in Japan.^[3]
• c. 1985 – in English.^[3][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A style of Japanese animation, in film or television, often related to manga.

Related words

• animation
• animate
• manga

Usage notes

A different word, animé, a resin from a tropical American tree used in varnish, is from French, from Spanish or Portuguese, from Tupi wana'ni in Tupi (1577).^[2][4][6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press