Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Chow” come from?

Chow comes from Mandarin 周, a word of unknown ultimate origin whose meaning in the etymological chain is not documented.

Ancestry of “Chow”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Englishchow-chowA Chinese preserve; An American relish,...
2Chinese Pidgin Englishchow-chowfood; eat
3Chinese炒—
Every word from Chinese 炒 →