Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “shuriken” come from?

shuriken (English) comes from Japanese 手裏剣, from Japanese 剣, from Middle Chinese けん, from Middle Chinese 元.

shuriken (English): A dart or throwing blade, sometimes with multiple...

Definitions

  1. A dart or throwing blade, sometimes with multiple...

Ancestry of “shuriken”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese手裏剣shuriken, throwing star
2Japanese剣a sword, "especially" one with a double-edged...
3Middle Chineseけん—
4Middle Chinese元—
Every word from Middle Chinese 元 →