Where does “карате” come from?
карате (Serbo-Croatian) comes from Japanese 唐手, from Japanese 空手, from Japanese 空, from Middle Chinese 空.
карате (Serbo-Croatian): karate
Ancestry of “карате”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 唐手 | Alternative spelling of 空手 |
| 2 | Japanese | 空手 | karate; the state of being empty-handed; the... |
| 3 | Japanese | 空 | the sky; something empty; ineffectual |
| 4 | Middle Chinese | 空 | — |