Where does “空手” come from?

空手 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 唐手, from Japanese 唐, from Japanese 伽羅, from Sanskrit कालागुरु.

空手 (Japanese): karate; the state of being empty-handed; the...

Definitions

  1. karate; the state of being empty-handed; the...

Ancestry of “空手”, step by step

空手 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 唐手

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese唐手Alternative spelling of 空手
2Japanese唐foreign lands in general; element in compounds,...
3Japanese伽羅the Gaya confederacy: a grouping of smaller states on the southern end of the Korean peninsula, roughly dating to 42-532
4Sanskritकालागुरु—

via Japanese 空

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese空the sky; something empty; ineffectual
2Middle Chinese空—

via English karate

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishkarateAn Okinawan martial art involving primarily...
2Japaneseから%て—

Words derived from “空手”

Every word from Sanskrit कालागुरु →Every word from Japanese 伽羅 →Every word from Japanese 唐 →