Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “shamisen” come from?

Shamisen comes from Japanese 三味線, a compound of 三 (three), 味 (flavor), and 線 (string), literally referring to a three-stringed instrument.

shamisen (English): A kind of three-stringed Japanese fretless lute

Definitions

  1. A kind of three-stringed Japanese fretless lute

Ancestry of “shamisen”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese三味線a Japanese stringed instrument played by...

Words derived from “shamisen”

  • shamisenist
Every word from Japanese 三味線 →