English words from Chinese
5 English words with Chinese in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
chi
1. The letter name is borrowed from Ancient Greek χῖ (khî), earlier χεῖ (kheî). It stood for a kh sound (see ch), and its X shape made the name a sign of things placed crosswise, as in χίασμα…
kowtow
It is borrowed from Chinese 叩頭 (kòutóu), in Mandarin, older romanized k'o-t'ou, literally “knock the head”, from 叩 (kòu, “to knock”) and 頭 (tóu, “head”).
yang
It is borrowed from Chinese 陽 (yáng), said to mean bright, male, daylight or the sun, as well as positive and the male genitals.
yen
1. It is borrowed from Japanese 円 (en, “round, circle”), written yen in the first European romanizations of Japanese, from Chinese 圓 (yuán, “round, round object, circle; dollar”), referring to the…
yuan
It is borrowed from Chinese 元 (yuán), a writing of 圓 (yuán, “round, circular; a round object, a dollar coin”), in the older spelling yüan. Wiktionary connects the name with the round silver coin…