Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1800s
Kowtow
from kòutóu (Mandarin — "knock head")
- Meaning
- A deep bow touching the forehead to the ground.
- Source word
- kòutóu (Mandarin — "knock head")
- Route into English
- British diplomatic accounts of the 1793 Macartney mission to Qianlong's court — where the embassy refused the gesture — gave the word its figurative life.
- Arrived
- 1800s
From Chinese
Trade English from the South China Sea ports (especially Hokkien-speaking Xiamen and Canton) seeded the early borrowings; 20th-century diplomacy and military contact added the rest.
English borrows.
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