Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Japanese ·1880s
Tofu
from tōfu
- Meaning
- A soft cheese-like food made from soybean curd.
- Source word
- tōfu
- Route into English
- Mandarin *dòufu* → Japanese *tōfu* → English. English inherited the Japanese form despite the food being Chinese in origin; the Japanese contact was more direct during the 20th-century health-food wave.
- Arrived
- 1880s
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.