忍者

Chinese

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

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

Noun

忍者

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

Japanese

Kanji in this term
忍 者
にん
Grade: S 		しゃ > じゃ
Grade: 3
goon
Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

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] cited to a text from 1689.[1]

This ninja reading became more common in Japanese in the modern era,[1] possibly due to a number of popular manga series after World War Two. This reading may have arisen as a shift in reading of the kun'yomi phrase 忍びの者 (shinobi no mono), applying the on'yomi to the kanji alone to create a kanji-compound term.

The sha changes to ja as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

Noun

忍(にん)者(じゃ) • (ninja) 

  1. a ninja (person trained in stealth, espionage, assassination and ninjutsu)
    • 2011 April 9, Hideaki Sorachi, “第(だい)三(さん)百(びゃく)三(さん)十(じゅう)七(なな)訓(くん)　だいじょぶだ〰 (Dai-sanbyakusanjūnana-kun Daijobu Da~, “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 naranē 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 iranē daro‼
      A ninja doesn’t need that kinda speed!!

Derived terms

  • 忍(ニン)者(ジャ)烏(カラス)鮫(ザメ) (ninja karasuzame, “ninja lanternshark (Etmopterus benchleyi)”)

Descendants

  • Chinese:
    → Mandarin: 忍者 (rěnzhě)
    → Cantonese: 忍者 (jan2 ze2)
  • → Danish: ninja
  • → English: ninja
  • → French: ninja
  • → German: Ninja
  • → Korean: 닌자 (ninja)
  • → Macedonian: нинџа (nindža)
  • → Portuguese: ninja
  • → Russian: ни́ндзя (níndzja)
  • → Vietnamese: nhẫn giả

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  4. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
忍者

Noun

忍者

  1. chữ Hán form of nhẫn giả (“ninja”)
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