Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1920s
Tempura
from tempura
- Meaning
- Battered and deep-fried seafood or vegetables.
- Source word
- tempura
- Route into English
- Portuguese *têmporas* (Ember Days, Catholic fasting days with no-meat fish fry-ups) → Japanese *tempura* → English. A borrowing in reverse: the Japanese borrowed the Portuguese practice from 16th-century missionaries, then English borrowed it back centuries later.
- Arrived
- 1920s
From Japanese
Two waves — Meiji-era diplomatic contact (1850s–1900s) and post-war US military presence (1945–) account for almost all Japanese loans in general English.
English borrows.
Browse the full loanword atlas or explore another source language.