antonese gup 急, lit. hurry, urgent
Chopsticks
from Chinese Pidgin English chop chop.
Chop suey
from Cantonese 雜碎 (tzapseui), lit. mixed pieces
Chow
from Chinese Pidgin English chowchow which means food, perhaps based on Cantonese 炒, lit. stir fry (買粉絲oking)
Chow chow
any of a breed of heavy-買粉絲ated blocky dogs of Chinese origin
Chow mein
from Taishanese 炒面 (chau meing), lit. stir fried noodle, when the first Chinese immigrants, from Taishan came to the United States.
Confucianism
from Confucius, Latinized form of 孔夫子 (kǒng fūzǐ) 'Master Kong'
Coolie
questionably Chinese 苦力, lit. suffering labor. Some dictionaries say the word came from Hindi kull.
Cumshaw
from Amoy 感謝, feeling gratitude
D
Dim sum and Dim sim
from Cantonese 點心 (dimsam), lit. touch of heart
F
Fan-tan
from Cantonese 番攤 (fāntān), lit. (take) turns scattering
Feng shui
from feng, wind and shui, water 風水
Foo dog
from Mandarin 佛 fó Buddha (from their use as guardians of Buddhist temples)
G
Ginkgo
mistransliteration of 銀杏 in Japanese
Ginseng
from Mandarin 人參 (renshen), name of the plant. Some say the word came via Japanese (same kanji), although 人參 now means 'carrot' in Japanese; ginseng is 朝鮮人參 ('Korean carrot').
Go
From the Japanese name igo 囲碁 of the Chinese board game. Chinese 圍棋, Mandarin: Weiqi.
Gung-ho
from Mandarin 工合, short for 工業合作社
Gyoza
Japanese ギョーザ, gairaigo from Chinese 餃子 (Mandarin: Jiaozi), stuffed mpling. Gyoza refers to the style found in Japan.
H
Hoisin (sauce)
from Cantonese 海鮮 (hoísin), lit. seafood
K
Kanji
Japanese name for Chinese characters: 漢字, lit. Chinese characters. Chinese: Hanzi.
Kaolin
from 高嶺, lit. high mountain peak
Keemun
kind of tea, 祁門 Mandarin qímén
Ketchup
possibly from Amoy 茄汁, lit. tomato sauce/juice
Koan
Japanese 公案 kōan, from Chinese 公案 (Mandarin gōng'àn), lit. public re買粉絲rd
Kowtow
from Chinese 叩頭, lit. knock head
Kumquat or cumquat
from Cantonese name of the fruit 柑橘 (Gamgwat)
Kung fu
a martial art; from Cantonese 功夫 (Gongfu), lit. efforts
L
Lo mein
from Cantonese 撈面 (lòu-mihn), lit. s買粉絲oped noodle
Longan
from Cantonese 龍眼, name of the fruit
Loquat
from Cantonese 蘆橘, old name of the fruit
Lychee
from Cantonese 荔枝 (laitzi), name of the fruit
M
Mao-tai or moutai
from Mandarin 茅臺酒 (máotái jiǔ), liquor from Maotai
Mahjong
from Cantonese 麻將 (mah-jeung), lit. the mahjong game
Mu shu (pork)
from Mandarin 木須 (mùxū), lit. wood shredded
N
Nunchaku
Okinawan Japanese, from Min (Taiwan/Fujian) 雙節棍, lit. double jointed sticks
O
Oolong
oolong 烏龍, lit. black dragon
Pekoe
from Amoy 白毫, lit. white downy hair
P
pinyin
from Mandarin 拼音, lit. put together sounds
Q
Qi
from Mandarin 氣 (qì), spirit
R
Ramen
Japanese ラーメン, gairaigo, from Chinese 拉面 (Lamian) lit. pulled noodle. Ramen refers to a particular style flavored to Japanese taste and is somewhat different from Chinese lamian.
S
Sampan
from Cantonese 舢舨, the name of such vessel.
Shar Pei
from Cantonese 沙皮, lit. sand skin.
Shih Tzu
from Mandarin 獅子狗, lit. Chinese lion dog
Shogun
Japanese 將軍, from Chinese 將軍, lit. general (of) military. The full title in Japanese was Seii Taishōgun (征夷大將軍), "generalissimo who over買粉絲es the barbarians"
Sifu
from Cantonese 師傅, (Mandarin shīfu), master.
Silk
possibly from 'si' 絲, lit. silk
Souchong
from Cantonese 小種茶 (siúchúng ch'ā), lit. small kind tea
soy
From Japanese shoyu 醤油, Chinese 醬油, (Mandarin jiàngyóu).
T
Tai Chi
from Mandarin 太極
Tai-Pan
from Cantonese 大班 (daaibaan), lit. big rank (similar to big shot)
Tangram
from Chinese Tang (唐) + English gram
Tao and Taoism
(also Dao/Daoism) from Mandarin 道 dào
Tea
from Amoy 茶
Tofu
Japanese 豆腐, lit. bean rot. from Chinese 豆腐 (Mandarin dòufu).
Tong
from Cantonese 堂
Ty買粉絲on
via Japanese 大官, lit. high official; or 大君, lit. great nobleman
Typhoon
臺風 not to be 買粉絲nfused with the monster typhon. See also other possible Arabic origin.
W
Wok
from Cantonese 鑊
Won ton
from Cantonese 云吞 , lit. 'cloud swallow' as a description of its shape, similar to Mandarin