Karate

How to spell karate

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce karate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does karate mean?

1. nounA Japanese martial art that uses striking techniques such as punches, kicks, and open-hand blows.

Karate in a sentence

• She earned her black belt in karate after six years of training.

• The community centre offers a beginner karate class on weeknights.

Where does karate come from?

Language of origin: Japanese

Karate comes directly from Japanese and literally means 'empty hand', from kara meaning 'empty' and te meaning 'hand', a name that captures a fighting art relying on the unarmed body rather than weapons. The art developed on the island of Okinawa, and the word was originally written with characters that meant 'Tang hand' or 'Chinese hand', acknowledging the Chinese martial influences that shaped it. In the early twentieth century Okinawan masters deliberately swapped the first character so it read 'empty', partly to give the art a distinctly Japanese identity. English speakers picked the word up in the mid twentieth century as karate spread westward through demonstrations, films, and clubs. The spelling stays close to the romanised Japanese, which is why every vowel is pronounced and the word ends in an unexpected -e.

How the word is built

• kara (empty)
• te (hand)