karate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Japanese 空手 (karate, “empty hand”),^[2][3][4][5] from 空 (kara, “empty”) and 手 (te, “hand”),^[5][3][6][7] meaning without weapons.^[8] The OED explains that this is an alteration, by a change of kanji, of 唐手 (karate, “China hand”),^[2][9] recorded for the martial art from 1898 or earlier and in the 18th century for Chinese-style handicrafts.^[2] The element kara in that name is a reading of the kanji for China; in 1935, during political tensions between Japan and China, it was replaced by the native homophone meaning "empty", helped by an existing compound karate for being empty-handed.^[2] Wiktionary describes the older name as a borrowing in writing from Okinawan.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Japanese system of unarmed combat: 1947, in the Elmira (New York) Star-Gazette.^[2][3][4] Barnhart dates it to 1955,^[10] and Dictionary.com to 1950–55.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense, a fighting art using hands and feet as weapons.^[2][6] It is often used attributively, especially in karate chop, a sharp slanting blow with the side of the hand, which Etymonline dates from 1964;^[2][3] the OED notes that this compound seems to be an English formation, since the Japanese name of the technique is different.^[2] As a verb, to strike with karate blows, it is recorded from 1963 in Etymonline, but only from 1968 in the OED.^[3][2] A person who practises karate is a karateka.^[3][8]

Timeline

• 1947 – the Japanese martial art.^[2][3][4]
• 1955 – Barnhart's first date.^[10]
• 1963 – verb, according to Etymonline.^[3]
• 1964 – karate chop.^[3]
• 1968 – verb, to strike with karate blows, in the OED.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A Japanese martial art of unarmed self-defence, using kicks and blows with the hands, feet, elbows and legs: He has a black belt in karate.^{[6][4][2][12]}

Verb

1. To strike someone with karate blows.^[2]

Word family

• karateist

Related words

• karateka

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
10. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ Evans, Tom (1997), A Dictionary of Japanese Loanwords, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press