忍者

Chinese
to bear; to endure; to tolerate ‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does sth)
trad. (忍者) 忍 者
simp. #(忍者) 忍 者

Pronunciation

Noun

忍者

  1. (historical, Japan) a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan
  2. a person trained primarily in stealth, espionage, assassination

Japanese
忍者 (ninja): a woodblock print of a ninja from the Hokusai Manga, published in 1814.
Kanji in this term
忍 者
にん
Grade: S		 しゃ > じゃ
Grade: 3
on’yomi

Etymology

Uncertain.

The most consistent term in the historical record appears to be 忍び (shinobi, “sneaking, hiding”), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 忍ぶ (shinobu, “to endure, to bear; to hide, to conceal oneself; to sneak into or out of a place”). This in turn was extended into 忍びの者 (shinobi no mono, “sneaking person, person of sneaking”).[1][2]

(Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) The term ninja may have arisen as a shift in reading of the kun'yomi phrase 忍びの者 (shinobi no mono), omitting the hiragana and applying the on'yomi to the kanji alone to create a kanji-compound term. This ninja reading became more common in Japanese after World War Two due to a number of popular manga series.

Pronunciation

Noun

忍者 (hiragana にんじゃ, rōmaji ninja)

  1. a ninja (person trained in stealth, espionage, assassination and ninjutsu)
    • 2011 April 9, Sorachi, Hideaki, “第だい三百三十七訓くん　だいじょぶだ〰 [Lesson 337: It’s Gonna Be Okay〰]”, in 銀ぎん魂たま [Silver Soul], volume 39 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:
      いやぁ　このデリケートな時 (じ)期 (き)によくやるな　お前 (まえ)　あの雑 (ざっ)食 (しょく)性 (せい)一 (ひと)晩 (ばん)であれだけの数 (かず)をさばくタフさ　そして何 (なに)よりその早 (はや)さ……お前 (まえ)　忍 (にん)者 (じゃ)にならねーか？
      Iyā kono derikēto na jiki ni yoku yaru na omae Ano zasshokusei hitoban de are dake no kazu o sabaku tafusa soshite nani yori sono hayasa…… Omae ninja ni nara nē ka?
      But you did really well in such a delicate situation. That toughness to omnivorously handle so many in one night, and that speed above all…… You wanna be a ninja?
      忍 (にん)者 (じゃ)にそんなす早 (ばや)さいらねーだろ‼
      Ninja ni sonna subayasa ira nē daro‼
      Ninja don’t need that kinda speed‼

Descendants

See also

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Vietnamese
Hán tự in this word
忍者

Noun

忍者

  1. Hán tự form of nhẫn giả (“ninja”).
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.