English
koban
Koban comes from Japanese 小判 ‘a gold coin of feudal Japan, with a face value…’.
- Japanesemodern小判koban‘a gold coin of feudal Japan, with a face value of one 両 (ryō)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1906koban
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Japanesemodern小判koban‘a gold coin of feudal Japan, with a face value of one 両 (ryō)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1906koban
Earliest quotation: 1906, Ernest Wilson Clement, Japan as it Was and Is: “Every landlord hath two koban paid him for dinner,…”
Every English word from Japanese 小判
Today it means
noun An oval gold coin in the Edo period of feudal Japan.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Japanese 小判 / koban