nunchaku

English
WOTD – 27 November 2020

Etymology
A wooden nunchaku.
A martial artist using a nunchaku.

Borrowed from Okinawan 双節棍 (nunchaku) (compare Japanese 双節棍 (nunchaku)), probably from Hokkien 兩節棍／两节棍 (nn̄g-chat-kùn, literally “two-segment cudgel”), from 兩／两 (nn̄g, “two”) + 節／节 (chat, “joint; link; segment”) + 棍 (kùn, “cudgel; stick”).[1]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /nʌnˈtʃækuː/, /nʌnˈtʃɑːkuː/[2][3][4]
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) enPR: nən-chä'ko͞o, IPA(key): /nʌnˈt͡ʃɑku/, /nən-/
  • Hyphenation: nun‧cha‧ku
  • Audio (US)(file)

Noun

nunchaku (countable and uncountable, plural nunchakus) (martial arts, weaponry)

  1. (countable) A weapon originating from Okinawa, Japan, consisting of two sticks joined by a chain or cord. [from 20th c.]
    Synonyms: chainsticks, numchuck, num-chuk, nunchuck, nunchuk
  2. (uncountable) The skill of using this weapon in martial arts.

Hypernyms

Coordinate terms

Translations

See also

References
  1. Compare “nunchaku, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2003; “nunchaku, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. The Chambers Dictionary, 9th Ed., 2003
  3. “nunchaku”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  4. “nunchaku”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

Japanese

Romanization

nunchaku

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ぬんちゃく
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ヌンチャク
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