# List of English words of Chinese origin

Words of Chinese origin have entered European languages, including English. Most of these were direct loanwords from various varieties of Chinese. However, Chinese words have also entered indirectly via other languages, particularly Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, that have all used Chinese characters at some point and contain a large number of Chinese loanwords.

## Sources

English words of Chinese origin usually have different characteristics, depending on precisely how the words encountered the West. Despite the increasingly widespread use of Standard Chinese—based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin—among Chinese people, English words based on Mandarin are comparatively few.
Chinese vocabulary has spread to the West by means such as:
* via missionaries who were living in China. These have heavy Latin influence due to Portuguese and Spanish missionaries.
* via sinologists who lived in China. These have heavy French influence due to the long history of French sinology.
* via the maritime trade route, e.g. tea, Amoy, cumshaw etc. Heavily influenced by the Min Nan Amoy dialect in southern seaports.
* via the early immigrants to the American West during gold rush era, e.g. chop suey. Heavily influenced by the Toisan dialect.
* via the multi-national colonization of Shanghai. Influenced by many European countries, as well as Japan.
* via the British colonization of Hong Kong, e.g. cheongsam. Heavily influenced by Cantonese.
* via modern international communication, especially after the 1970s when the People's Republic of China reduced up travel restrictions, allowing emigration to various countries, e.g. wushu, feng shui. Heavily influenced by Mandarin.
* via Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, often Sino-Xenic words, These languages historically borrowed large swaths of Chinese vocabulary, and wrote Chinese and their native language in Chinese characters. The pronunciation of such loanwords is not based directly on Chinese, but on the local pronunciation of Chinese loanwords in these languages, known as Sino-Japanese, Sino-Korean, and Sino-Vietnamese. In addition, the individual characters were extensively used as building blocks for local neologisms with no semantic counterpart in the original Chinese, resulting in words whose relationship to the Chinese language is similar to the relationship between new Latinate words—particularly those that form a large part of the international scientific vocabulary—and Latin. Such words are excluded from the list, as they sound pretty similar to their English renderings.
Though all these following terms originated from China, the spelling of the English words depends on the direct point of contact and borrowing, as well as which transliteration scheme is typically used.

## Table

| English | Direct origin | Word | Transliteration | Details |
| Bok choy | Cantonese | 白菜 | baak$^6$ coi$^3$ | A Chinese cabbage: lit. 'white vegetable' |
| Brainwash | Semantic borrowing | 洗腦 | xǐnǎo | A calque of Chinese 洗腦, consisting of the characters 洗; 'wash' and 腦; 'brain'. A term first used by the People's Volunteer Army during the Korean War, then picked up by the American media. It may refer to a forcible indoctrination to induce someone to give up basic political, social, or religious beliefs and attitudes and to accept contrasting regimented ideas; or persuasion by propaganda or salesmanship. The term "brainwashing" came into the mainstream English language after Western media sources first utilized the term to describe the attitudes of POWs returning from the Korean War. |
| Cha | Cantonese | 茶 | cha$^4$ | tea, see 'tea' below |
| Char siu | Cantonese | 叉燒 | cha$^1$ siu$^1$ | lit. fork roasted |
| Cheongsam | Cantonese | 長衫（旗袍） | cheung$^4$ saam$^1$ | lit. 'long clothes', popularly used during the 19th and early 20th centuries |
| Chin chin, chin-chin | Mandarin | 請 | qǐng | lit. 'please', 'invite', an exclamation used to express good wishes before drinking—cf. Mandarin 乾杯; gānbēi; 'empty the glass', Sino-Japanese kanpai. While occasionally used in American English, chin-chin is an informal and outdated British English usage, for instance, the TV sitcom As Time Goes By. |
| China | Mandarin | 秦 or 晉 | qín | Via Latin Sina, Persian چین Cin, and Sanskrit चीन Chinas; ultimately either from the name of the 秦; 'Qin' or 晉; 'Jin' state |
| Chop chop | Cantonese | 速速 | chuk$^1$ chuk$^1$ | lit. 'hurry', 'urgent' |
| Chopsticks | Pidgin | 筷子 | Kuai zi | from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop. |
| Chop suey | Cantonese | 雜碎 | jaap$^6$ seui$^3$ | 'mixed pieces' |
| Chow | Cantonese | 炒 | seiiau$^2$ | From meaning 'cook', perhaps based on Cantonese. lit. 'to stir fry' |
| Chow chow | Cantonese | | | any of a breed of heavy-coated blocky dogs of Chinese origin |
| Chow mein | Cantonese (Taishanese) | 炒麵 | chau$^2$ mein$^6$ | lit. 'stir fried noodle', from initial Chinese immigrants from Taishan came to the United States |
| Confucius | Jesuit Latinization | 孔夫子 | kǒngfūzǐ | Latinization of 'Master Kong' |
| Cumshaw | Hokkien (Amoy) | 感謝 | kám siā | feeling gratitude |
| Dim sum, Dim sim | Cantonese | 點心 | dim$^2$ sam$^1$ | lit. '(slightly) touches the heart, skimming the heart, igniting the heart', generally an idiom meaning 'desserts, pastry (accomponied to green tea), light refreshments' |
| Fan-tan | Cantonese | 番攤 | faan$^1$ taan$^1$ | 'take turns scattering' |
| Feng shui | Mandarin | 風水 | fēngshuǐ | from 風; 'wind' and 水; 'water', denotes some form of aesthetic balance, generally in rooms or objects |
| Foo dog | Mandarin | 佛 | fó | Refers to the statues of lions that serve as guardians of Buddhist temples: combination of 佛; 'Buddha' and 'dog', due to the statues resembling dogs |
| Ginkgo | Sino-Japanese | 銀杏 | ginkyō | From Japanese ginkyō or ginnan |
| Ginseng | Hokkien | 人參 | jîn sim | From the name of the plant: some say the word came via the Japanese pronunciation, though 人参 now means 'carrot' in Japanese, while the modern word for 'ginseng' is 朝鮮人參, 'Korean carrot'. |
| Go | Sino-Japanese | 圍棋 | igo | Japanese name for the Chinese board game, cf. Mandarin wéiqí. |
| Guanxi | Mandarin | 關係 | guānxi | lit. 'relationship', refers to such in Chinese culture—occasionally a reference to nepotism or cronyism in Chinese business and bureaucracy |
| Gung-ho | Mandarin | 工合 | gōnghé | Short for 工業合作社; 'Chinese Industrial Cooperatives' |
| Gweilo | Cantonese | 鬼佬 | gwai$^2$ lou$^2$ | Literally 'ghost guy', used as a common slur for Westerners. Absent modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of deprecatory and pejorative use, though it has been argued that it has since acquired a more neutral connotation. |
| Gyoza | Sino-Japanese | 餃子 | gyōza | From Chinese jiǎozi; 'stuffed dumpling'. In English, refers to the fried dumpling style, as opposed to the style boiled in water. |
| Hanfu | Mandarin | 漢服 | hànfú | lit. 'Han clothing': traditional Chinese clothes, includes several varieties for both men and women. |
| Har gow | Cantonese | 蝦餃 | ha$^1$ gaau$^2$ | 'shrimp dumpling' |
| Hoisin | Cantonese | 海鮮 | hoi$^2$ sin$^1$ | 'seafood' |
| Junzi | Mandarin | 君子 | jūnzǐ | lit. 'person of high stature'; translatable as "respectable person" or simply "gentleman" |
| Kanji | Sino-Japanese | 漢字 | kanji | Name for Chinese characters within Japanese, cf. Mandarin hànzì. |
| Kaolin | Mandarin | 高嶺 | gāolǐng | lit. 'high mountain peak', the name of a village or suburb of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi, the site of a mine from which kaolin clay (高嶺土; gāolǐngtǔ) was taken to make the fine porcelain produced in Jingde. |
| Keemun | Cantonese | 祁門 | kei$^4$ mun$^4$ | tea from Qimen |
| Ketchup | Hokkien (Amoy) | 茄汁 | | In the 17th century, the Chinese mixed a concoction of pickled fish and spices, called kôe-chiap or kê-chiap in the Amoy dialect, whose meaning refers to(鮭汁) the brine of pickled fish or shellfish (鮭; 'salmon', 汁; 'juice'). By the early 18th century, the sauce had made it to the Malay peninsula, where it was later discovered by English explorers. That word then gradually evolved into the English word "ketchup", and was taken to the American colonies by English settlers. |
| Koan | Sino-Japanese | 公案 | kōan | cf. Mandarin 公案; gōng'àn; 'public record' |
| Kowtow | Cantonese | 叩頭 | kau$^3$ tau$^4$ | 'knock head' |
| Kumquat, cumquat | Cantonese | 柑橘 | gam$^1$ gwat$^1$ | 'tangerine' |
| Kung fu | Cantonese | 功夫 | gung$^1$ fu$^1$ | lit. 'efforts', used in English to collectively describe Chinese martial arts |
| Lo mein | Cantonese | 撈麵 | lou$^1$ min$^6$ | 'scooped noodle' |
| Longan | Cantonese | 龍眼 | lung$^4$ ngaan$^5$ | lit. 'dragon's eye' |
| Long time no see | Semantic borrowing from Mandarin | 好久不見 | hǎojiǔbùjiàn | — |
| Loquat | Cantonese | 蘆橘 | lou$^4$ gwat$^1$ | Archaic name for the fruit |
| Lychee | Cantonese | 荔枝 | lai$^6$ ji$^1$ | twigs of cat-tail like grass |
| Mao-tai, moutai | Mandarin | 茅台酒 | máotáijiǔ | liquor from Maotai, Guizhou |
| Mahjong | Cantonese | 麻將 | ma$^4$ jeung$^3$ | sparrow checkmate, short for 'hemp sparrow warfare, hemp sparrow being the term for house sparrow, and sparrow warfare (麻雀戰, 麻雀战) a form of guerilla warfare tactics. |
| Monsoon | Cantonese | 滿水 | mun$^5$ seoi$^2$ | 'full of water' |
| Mu shu | Mandarin | 木須 | mùxū | 'wood shredded pork' |
| Nankeen | Mandarin | 南京 | Nánjīng | The name for city, sometimes used in English to refer to the durable, buff-colored cotton cloth originally produced there |
| No can do | Semantic borrowing | 唔可以 (Cantonese), 不可以 (Mandarin) | m$^4$ ho$^2$yi$^5$; bù kěyǐ | Calque, though also possibly a calque of Mandarin 不能做; bùnéng zùo; 'no can do'. |
| Nunchuk | Hokkien (Taiwan, Fujian) | 雙節棍, 兩節棍 | nng-chat-kun | Via Okinawan Japanese, lit. 'pair of joined sticks, double jointed sticks' |
| Oolong | Hokkien (Amoy) | 烏龍 | oo liong | 'dark dragon' |
| Pai gow | Cantonese | 排九 | paai$^4$ gau$^2$ | lit. 'row of nine', 'line of nine' |
| Paper tiger | Semantic borrowing | 纸老虎 | zhǐlǎohǔ | Calque of an idiom referring to something or someone whose claims or appearances of threat or power are paper-thin, actually being ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. Became well known internationally by its use by Mao Zedong to refer to his political opponents, particularly the American government. |
| Pekin | Cantonese | 北京 | bak$^1$ ging$^1$ | From an older romanization of the Cantonese reading of Beijing |
| Pidgin | Mandarin | 皮钦语 | píqīnyǔ | lit. 'naughty respect language, case-hardened ('thick-skinned') respect language' |
| Pinyin | Mandarin | 拼音 | pīnyīn | 'put together sounds', 'spelled-out sounds' |
| Pekoe | Hokkien (Amoy) | 白毫 | pe̍khô | 'white downy hair' |
| Pongee | Cantonese | 本機 | | lit. 'our own loom', 'homespun', a kind of thin silk |
| Pu'er, puerh | Mandarin | 普洱 | pǔ'ěr | Named after a city |
| Qi, ch'i | Mandarin | 氣 | qì | Energy of an object or person, lit. 'air', 'spirit'. |
| Qipao | Mandarin | 旗袍 | qípáo | — |
| Ramen | Sino-Japanese | 拉麵 | rāmen | cf. Mandarin lāmiàn |
| Rickshaw | Sino-Japanese | 人力車 | rénlìchē | Japanese neologism, jinrikisha (c. 1887) composed of semantic elements 人; 'human', 力; 'power' and 車; 'vehicle'. |
| Sampan | Cantonese | 舢舨 | saan$^1$ baan$^2$ | — |
| Shanghai | Mandarin | 上海 | Shànghǎi | The city name, used in English as a verb meaning 'to put someone aboard a ship by trickery or intoxication', or generally 'to put someone in a bad situation by trickery'. From an old practice of deceitful acquiring sailors for voyages to Shanghai |
| Shantung | Mandarin | 山東 | Shāndōng | The Wade-Giles romanization of the province's name, used in English to refer to a wild silk fabric, usually undyed. |
| Shaolin | Mandarin | 少林 | shàolín | — |
| Shar pei | Cantonese | 沙皮 | sa$^1$ pei$^4$ | 'sand skin' |
| Shih tzu | Taiwanese Mandarin | 獅子狗 | shih tzu$^3$ kou$^3$ | lit. 'lion child dog', Chinese lion |
| Shogun | Sino-Japanese | 將軍 | shōgun | lit. 'military general', the full Japanese title was 征夷大将軍, Seii Taishōgun, 'generalissimo who overcomes the barbarians' |
| Siu mai | Cantonese | 燒賣 | siu$^1$ maai$^2$ | pork dumplings, lit. 'to cook and sell' |
| Sifu | Cantonese | 師傅 | si$^1$ fu$^2$ | 'master' |
| Souchong | Cantonese | 小種茶 | siu$^2$ jung$^2$ cha$^4$ | 'small kind of tea |
| Soy | Sino-Japanese | 醬油 | shōyu | cf. Mandarin pinyin: jiàngyóu |
| Struggle session | Semantic calque from Mandarin | 批斗大会 | pīdòudàhuì | According to Lin Yutang, the expression comes from 批判; pīpàn; 'to criticize and judge' and 鬥爭; dòuzhēng; 'to fight and contest', so the whole expression conveys the message of 'inciting spirited judgment and fighting'. It was often shortened to 批鬥; pīdòu. The term refers to a phenomenon especially prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, where public sessions were ostensibly held for the benefit the target, intending to eliminate counterrevolutionary, reactionary thinking. |
| Tai chi | Mandarin | 太極 | tàijí | From the Wade-Giles romanization of taijiquan (i.e., "tʻai chi chʻüan"), meaning 'great ultimate boxing' |
| Tai-pan | Cantonese | 大班 | daai$^6$ baan$^1$ | equivalent to "big shot" |
| Tangram | Compound word | 唐 | táng | from Tang + English gram |
| Tao, Dao | Mandarin | 道 | dào | 'way', path' |
| Tea | Hokkien | 茶 | tê | In most European languages, where the word resembles te, tea generally originated in the Amoy port. The other common word for tea worldwide, usually in places where tea generally came via the Silk Road, derives from the Mandarin pronunciation with the same Old Chinese etymology. |
| Tofu | Sino-Japanese | 豆腐 | tōfu | cf. Mandarin dòufu |
| Tong | Cantonese | 堂 | tong$^4$ | — |
| Tung oil | Cantonese | 桐油 | tung$^4$ yau$^4$ | — |
| Tycoon | Sino-Japanese | 大君 | taikun | 'great nobleman' |
| Typhoon | Hokkien (Taiwanese), Cantonese, or Mandarin | 颱風 | thai-hong | lit. 'wind coming from Taiwan', usually hong-thai in contemperary Taiwanese, cf. Cantonese toi$^4$ fung$^1$ |
| Wok | Cantonese | 鑊 | wok$^6$ | — |
| Wonton | Cantonese | 雲吞 | wan$^4$ tan$^1$ | homophone in Cantonese with the original 餛飩, cf. Mandarin húntún, lit. 'cloud swallow', describing its shape |
| Wushu | Mandarin | 武術 | wǔshù | — |
| Wuxia | Mandarin | 武俠 | wǔxiá | — |
| Yamen | Mandarin | 衙門 | yámén | 'court' |
| Yen | Cantonese | 癮 | yan$^5$ | Craving, usually in reference to opium addition, lit. 'addiction' |
| Yen | Sino-Japanese | 圓 | en | cf. Mandarin yuán, lit. 'round', 'name of currency unit' |
| Yin yang | Mandarin | 陰陽 | yīnyáng | Yin meaning 'feminine', 'dark' and yang meaning 'masculine', 'bright' |
| Yuanfen | Mandarin, Vietnamese | 緣分 | yuánfèn | lit. 'fateful coincidence'—similar conceptually to karma, but interactive instead of individualized, predestination without divine implications |
| Zen | Sino-Japanese | 禪 | zen | cf. Mandarin chán, originally from Sanskrit ध्यान Dhyāna, Pali झन jhāna. |