English words that come from Chinese
Most came through Cantonese and Hokkien, the languages of the southern ports, not Mandarin.
We make Mandarin The Wild.
Food and drink
Food is where most of the words are, carried by traders and by the Cantonese cooks of the first Chinese restaurants abroad1:
| English | Chinese | Mandarin | Came through |
|---|---|---|---|
| tea | 茶 | chá | Hokkien tê; “chai” and “cha” go back to chá, the Mandarin and Cantonese word |
| ketchup | 膎汁 | (Mandarin says 番茄酱, fānqiéjiàng) | probably Hokkien kê-tsiap, a fish sauce |
| dim sum | 点心 | diǎnxin | Cantonese dim2 sam1 |
| wok | 镬 | huò | Cantonese wok6 |
| chow mein | 炒面 | chǎomiàn | Taishanese, a southern language close to Cantonese |
| bok choy | 白菜 | báicài | Cantonese baak6 coi3, “white vegetable” |
| wonton | 云吞 (馄饨 in Mandarin) | húntun | Cantonese wan4 tan1 |
| lychee | 荔枝 | lìzhī | Chinese, by the 1500s |
| kumquat | 金橘 | jīnjú | Cantonese gam1 gwat1, “golden orange” |
| ginseng | 人参 | rénshēn | Hokkien |
| tofu | 豆腐 | dòufu | through Japanese |
Martial arts, games and ideas
| English | Chinese | Mandarin | What it means in Chinese |
|---|---|---|---|
| kung fu | 功夫 | gōngfu | skill from hard work, any skill, not only fighting |
| tai chi | 太极 | tàijí | “the supreme ultimate” |
| feng shui | 风水 | fēngshuǐ | “wind and water” |
| yin and yang | 阴阳 | yīnyáng | shade and sun, the two forces |
| mahjong | 麻将 | májiàng | the tile game |
| kowtow | 叩头 | kòutóu | to knock the head on the ground in a bow |
他练了十年功夫。
kung fu; martial arts
In Chinese, 功夫 is wider than in English: it is the time and effort something takes, so 这道菜很花功夫 means “this dish takes a lot of work”, with no fighting in it.
Words with a longer road
- Typhoon came from more than one direction: Greek typhōn and Arabic ṭūfān met Chinese 大风 (dàfēng, “big wind”) and Cantonese daai6 fung1 in the ports of Asia2. Chinese now writes it 台风 (táifēng).
- Tycoon came through Japanese taikun, from Chinese 大君 (dàjūn, “great lord”), a title used for the shogun.
- Gung ho is 工合 (gōnghé), short for the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives; an American Marine officer who had seen them took it as a motto in 1942, as “work together”2.
- Shih tzu is 狮子 (shīzi), “lion”, for the dog’s mane.
Phrases English translated from Chinese
Some English phrases are Chinese said word for word in English1:
- Lose face is 丢脸 (diūliǎn), and “save face” its partner.
- Paper tiger is 纸老虎 (zhǐlǎohǔ), something that looks dangerous but isn’t, made famous by Mao Zedong.
- Brainwashing is 洗脑 (xǐnǎo), which entered English in 1950.
- Long time no see is often said to be 好久不见 (hǎojiǔ bújiàn) in English, though the dictionaries call it probable, not proven.
好久不见！你最近怎么样？
long time no see
Also written 好久不見
Going the other way
Chinese borrows from English too, mostly by sound: 咖啡 (kāfēi, coffee), 沙发 (shāfā, sofa), 巧克力 (qiǎokèlì, chocolate) and 酷 (kù, cool). Our list of Chinese words that sound like English plays each one, and words that don’t translate has the ones English has no word for.
With the extension, any Chinese word on any page shows its meaning when you point at it, and the Library has graded stories to read from HSK 1.
Questions
What English words come from Chinese?
Tea, ketchup, kung fu, tai chi, feng shui, dim sum, wok, chow mein, bok choy, lychee, kumquat, ginseng, mahjong, kowtow, typhoon (in part), tycoon (through Japanese) and gung ho, among others. Most came through Cantonese or Hokkien rather than Mandarin.
Why don’t English words from Chinese sound like Mandarin?
Most were borrowed in the southern ports, from Cantonese and Hokkien speakers, before Mandarin was China’s standard language. “Tea” is Hokkien tê; Mandarin says chá.
Is “long time no see” from Chinese?
Probably. It matches 好久不见 (hǎojiǔ bújiàn) word for word, and dictionaries call a Chinese origin likely, but it may also come from pidgin English of other places.
Sources
Checked on 27 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.