Where does “bokeh” come from?

bokeh (English) comes from Japanese 暈け, from Japanese 暈ける, from Japanese ほける.

bokeh (English): A subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of an image projected by a camera lens

Definitions

  1. A subjective aesthetic quality of out-of-focus areas of an image projected by a camera lens

Ancestry of “bokeh”, step by step

bokeh traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 暈け

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese暈けbokeh
2Japanese暈けるto fade; to blur, to be out of focus
3Japaneseほける—

via Japanese ぼけ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseぼけa funnyman

Words derived from “bokeh”

Every word from Japanese ほける →Every word from Japanese 暈ける →Every word from Japanese 暈け →