wasei kango

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 和製漢語 (literally “Japan-made Chinese words”).

Noun

wasei kango pl (plural only)

1. Words coined in Japanese that are based on Chinese characters.
2. Japanese coinages using Chinese roots, not originally in use in Chinese-speaking countries nor by Chinese native speakers, but only by speakers of Japanese.

Usage notes

Although invented in Japan, some of these terms, such as 科学 (kagaku, “science”) have been reimported to Chinese, as 科學／科学 (kēxué). This is typical of orthographic borrowings to Chinese from Chinese-character based scripts; for example 東京 (Tōkyō, “Tokyo”, literally “eastern capital”) is pronounced differently but written the same (or in simplified form), as 東京／东京 (Dōngjīng), also meaning Tokyo.

See also

• Japanese 和製漢語(わせいかんご) (wasei kango)
• wasei eigo, Japanese pseudo-anglicisms