English
kata
Kata comes from Japanese 型.
- Japanesemodern型literally ‘pattern, model’
- Englishearliest quotation 1979kata
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Japanesemodern型literally ‘pattern, model’
- Englishearliest quotation 1979kata
Earliest quotation: 1979, Masatoshi Nakayama, Best Karate: Heian: “About fifty kata, or "formal exercises," are practiced at…”
The story
In English use since the 1950s.
Every English word from Japanese 型
Another origin of kata
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱóm‘beside, with’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱm̥-th₂uncertain
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kətáreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκατάkatá‘downwards’
- Englishtodaykata
Today it means
noun Any of a sequence of positions and movements used in many martial arts.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Japanese 型 / kata