List of English words of Chinese origin
The list

List of English words of Chinese origin

Section Title: The list
Table Section Text: None

English Word	Origin of Word	Chinese Word	Phonetic transliteration	Description

Bok choy	Cantonese	白菜	baak6 choi3	A Chinese cabbage: lit. 'white vegetable'

Brainwashing	Literal translation	洗腦	xǐnǎo	A calque of Chinese 洗腦 (where 洗 literally means "wash", while 腦 means "brain", hence brainwash), a term and psychological concept first used by the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War.

Catsup	Cantonese	茄汁	ke2 jap1	see Ketchup. Ketchup is pidgin English for "kerjup" which means tomato (茄 "ker") sauce (汁 "jup").

Char	Cantonese	茶	cha4	Colloquial English word for 'tea'

Cheongsam	Cantonese	长衫（旗袍）	cheung4 saam1	lit. long clothes. Popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Ch'i or "qi"	Mandarin	氣	qì	Energy of an object or person, literally air or spirit. (This word is correctly represented in Wade–Giles romanization by "ch'i," but the rough breathing mark (replaced by an apostrophe in most texts) has disappeared in colloquial English.)

Chin chin, or chin-chin	Mandarin	請	qǐng	An exclamation used to express good wishes before drinking, lit. "please; to invite".

China	Mandarin	秦 or 晉	qín	Via Latin Sina, Persian چین Cin, and Sanskrit चीन Chinas; ultimately from the name of the Qin 秦 or Jin 晉

Chop chop	Cantonese	速速	chuk1 chuk1	lit. hurry, urgent

Chopsticks	Pidgin	筷子	from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.

Chop suey	Cantonese	雜碎	jaap6 seui3	lit. mixed pieces

Chow	Cantonese	炒	chaau2	From "chao" which means cook, perhaps based on Cantonese. Lit. stir fry (cooking)

Chow chow	Cantonese	any of a breed of heavy-coated blocky dogs of Chinese origin

Chow mein	Cantonese (Taishanese)	炒麵	chau mein	lit. stir fried noodle, when the first Chinese immigrants from Taishan came to the United States.

Confucius	Jesuit latinization	孔夫子	kôngfūzî	Latinized form of 'Master Kong'

coolie	苦力	kǔlì

Cumshaw	Hokkien (Amoy)	感謝	kám siā	feeling gratitude

Dalai Lama	Mongolian and Tibetan	Далай and བླ་མ	The name is a combination of the Mongolian word Далай "Dalai" meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ "Blama" (with a silent b) meaning "chief" or "high priest." The name literally means "Ocean Teacher."-, the lama who is the chief spiritual adviser of the Dalai Lama.

Dim sum and Dim sim	Cantonese	點心	dim2 sam1	lit. touches the heart

Fan-tan	Cantonese	番攤	faan1 taan1	lit. (take) turns scattering

Feng shui	Mandarin	風水	fēngshuǐ	from feng, wind and shui, water; (slang) Denotes an object or scene which is aesthetically balanced (generally used in construction or design)

Foo dog	Mandarin	佛	fó	Combination of '佛' (literally 'Buddha') and dog due to the statues resembling dogs. Refers to statues of lions that serve as guardians of Buddhist temples.

Ginkgo	Sino-Japanese	銀杏	mistransliteration of ginkyō or ginnan in Japanese

Ginseng	Hokkien	人參	jîn sim	Name of the plant. Some say the word came via Japanese (same kanji), although 人参 now means 'carrot' in Japanese; ginseng is 朝鮮人參 ('Korean carrot').

Go	Sino-Japanese	圍棋	igo	Japanese name (囲碁) of the Chinese board game. Chinese 圍棋, Mandarin: Weiqi.

Guanxi	Mandarin	關係	guānxi	Refers to connections or relationships in Chinese culture. It is occasionally a reference to nepotism or cronyism among Chinese businesses and bureaucracies.

Gung-ho	Mandarin	工合	gōnghé	Short for 工業合作社

Gyoza	Japanese (Gairaigo)	ギョーザ	gairaigo	from Chinese 餃子 (Mandarin: Jiaozi), stuffed dumpling. Gyoza in English refers to the fried dumpling style (as opposed to water boiled).

Hanfu	Mandarin	漢服	hànfú	lit. Han clothing. Traditional Chinese clothes; it includes several varieties for both men and women.

Har gow	Cantonese	蝦餃	ha1 gaau2	lit. shrimp dumpling

Hoisin (sauce)	Cantonese	海鮮	hoi2 sin1	lit. seafood

Kanji	Sino-Japanese	漢字	Japanese name for Chinese characters. Chinese: Hànzì.

Kaolin	Mandarin	高嶺	gāolǐng	lit. high mountain peak, the name of a village or suburb of Jingde Town, in Jiangxi Province, that was the site of a mine from which kaolin clay (高嶺土 gāo lǐng tǔ) was taken to make the fine porcelain produced in Jingde.

Keemun	Cantonese	祁門	kei4 mun4	tea from Qimen in China

Ketchup	Hokkien (Amoy)	茄汁	In the 17th century, the Chinese mixed a concoction of pickled fish and spices and called it (in the Amoy dialect) kôe-chiap or kê-chiap (鮭汁) meaning the brine of pickled fish (鮭, salmon; 汁, juice) or shellfish.

Koan	Sino-Japanese	公案	kōan	From Chinese 公案 (Mandarin gōng'àn), lit. public record

Kowtow	Cantonese	叩頭	kau3 tau4	lit. knock head

Kumquat or cumquat	Cantonese	柑橘	gam1 gwat1	Name for tangerines

Kung fu	Cantonese	功夫	gung1 fu1	the English term to collectively describe Chinese martial arts, lit. efforts

Lo mein	Cantonese	撈麵	lou1 min6	literally scooped noodle

Longan	Cantonese	龍眼	lung4 ngaan5	name of the fruit, literally "Dragon's eye"

Long time no see	Mandarin	好久不見	Hǎo Jiǔ Bù Jiàn	a common greeting literally translated

Loquat	Cantonese	蘆橘	lou4 gwat1	old name of the fruit

Lychee	Cantonese	荔枝	lai6 ji1	name of the fruit

Mao-tai or moutai	Mandarin	茅台酒	máotái jiǔ	liquor from Maotai (Guizhou province)

Mahjong	Cantonese	麻將	ma4 jeung3	lit. the mahjong game

Mu shu	Mandarin	木須	mùxū	lit. wood shredded pork

Nankeen	Mandarin	南京	Nán Jīng	Durable cotton, buff-colored cloth originally made in the city Nanjing (Nánjīng, previously romanized as Nanking).

No can do	Literal translation	唔可以 (Cantonese); 不可以 (Mandarin)	m4 ho2yi5, or Bù kěyǐ	Literal translation of no

Nunchaku	Hokkien (Taiwan/Fujian)	雙節棍 / 兩節棍	nng-chat-kun	Via Okinawan Japanese, lit. double jointed sticks

Oolong	Hokkien (Amoy)	烏龍	oo liong	lit. dark dragon

Pai gow	Cantonese	排九	paai4 gau2	a gambling game

Pekin	Cantonese	北京	bak1 ging1	a patterned silk cloth

Pinyin	Mandarin	拼音	pīnyīn	lit. put together sounds; spelled-out sounds

Pekoe	Hokkien (Amoy)	白毫	pe̍khô	lit. white downy hair

pongee	Cantonese	本機	lit. our own loom, homespun, and so a kind of thin silk

Qi	Mandarin	氣	qì	air

Qipao	Mandarin	旗袍	qípáo	lit. Manchurian dress. Manchurian ethnic female clothing (male version: cheongsam)

Ramen	Sino-Japanese	拉麵	lāmiàn	The word for Japanese noodle (Japanese ラーメン, gairaigo) uses the sound from the Chinese pronunciation of the characters, which means pulled noodle.

Rickshaw	Sino-Japanese	人力車	rénlìchē	A Japanese neologism, jinrikisha (c. 1887) composed of Chinese elements 人 (rén/jin) "human," 力 (lì/riki) "power," and 車 (chē/sha) "vehicle."

Sampan	Cantonese	舢舨	saan1 baan2	the name of such vessel.

Shanghai	Mandarin	上海	shànghǎi	city of Shanghai, used as slang, meaning: to put someone aboard a ship by trickery or intoxication; to put someone in a bad situation or press someone into work by trickery.

shantung	Mandarin	山東	shāndōng	"shantung" (or sometimes "Shantung") is a wild silk fabric made from the silk of wild silkworms and is usually undyed.

Shaolin	Mandarin	少林	shàolín	One of the most important Kungfu clans.

Shar Pei	Cantonese	沙皮	sa1 pei4	lit. sand skin.

Shih Tzu	Taiwanese Mandarin	獅子狗	shih tzu3 kou3	lit. lion child dog (Chinese lion)

Shogun	Sino-Japanese	將軍	lit. general (of) military. The full title in Japanese was Seii Taishōgun (征夷大将軍), "generalissimo who overcomes the barbarians"

Siu mai	Cantonese	燒賣	siu1 maai2	pork dumplings, lit. to cook and sell

Sifu	Cantonese	師傅	si1 fu2	master.

Souchong	Cantonese	小種茶	siu2 jung2 cha4	lit. small kind tea

Soy	Sino-Japanese	醬油	Japanese pronunciation of shoyu

Tai Chi	Mandarin	太極	tàijí	T'ai chi "Great Ultimate" or T'ai Chi Ch'üan, usually miswritten as Tai Chi Chuan, a form of physical discipline, from Mandarin 太極拳，lit, "Great Ultimate(fist =) Fighting."

Tai-Pan	Cantonese	大班	daai6 baan1	lit. big rank (similar to big shot)

Tangram	Compound word	唐	tang	from Tang + English gram

Tao/Dao and Taoism/Daoism	Mandarin	道	dào	Hybrid word from "way; path" and -ism suffix

Tea	Hokkien	茶	tê	Most European languages called te/tea where tea came from Amoy port. Many others call it cha the Mandarin pronunciation where tea came via the Silk Road.

Tofu	Sino-Japanese	豆腐	The Japanese pronunciation tōfu from Mandarin pronunciation dòufu.

Tong	Cantonese	堂	tong4

tung oil	Cantonese	桐油	tung4 yau4	oil extracted from nuts of the tong tree

Tycoon	Japanese	大君	lit. great nobleman

Typhoon	Hokkien (Taiwanese) or Cantonese or Mandarin	颱風 / 台风 (tai2 feng1)	thai-hong (usu. hong-thai in Taiwanese now); toi4 fung1 (Cantonese)	lit. The wind that comes from Taiwan. not to be confused with the monster: typhon.

Wok	Cantonese	鑊	wok6	lit. boiler or cauldron

Wonton	Cantonese	雲吞	wan4 tan1	homophonous word in Cantonese of the original term "餛飩" wan4tan4, húntún lit. 'cloud swallow' as a description of its shape

Wushu	Mandarin	武術	wǔshù	lit. martial arts

Wuxia	Mandarin	武俠	wǔxiá	lit. martial arts and chivalrous

Yamen	Mandarin	衙門	yámén	lit. court

Yen	Cantonese	癮	yan5	Craving: lit. addiction (to opium)

Yen (Japanese currency)	Sino-Japanese	円	en	from Chinese 圓, lit. round, name of currency unit

Yin Yang	Mandarin	陰陽	yīnyáng	'Yin' meaning feminine, dark and 'Yang' meaning masculine and bright

Zen	Sino-Japanese	禅	chán	from Chinese 禪, originally from Sanskrit ध्यान Dhyāna / Pali झन jhāna.

Sentence(s)

Qi was an early Chinese loanword in English.

final_sentence: Qi was an early Chinese loanword in English.