"kaizen" meaning in All languages combined

See kaizen on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈkaɪˌzən/, /ˈkaɪˌzɛn/ Forms: kaizens [plural]
Rhymes: -aɪzən Etymology: From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ "to correct errors"), from 改 ("to change") + 善 ("good"). Introduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business. Etymology templates: {{der|en|ja|改善}} Japanese 改善, {{der|en|ltc|-}} Middle Chinese, {{cog|cmn|-}} Mandarin, {{der|en|och|-}} Old Chinese Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} kaizen (countable and uncountable, plural kaizens)
  1. A Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity. Tags: countable, uncountable Translations (Japanese business practice of continuous improvement): kaizen [masculine] (French), 改善 (kaizen) (alt: かいぜん) (Japanese), kaizen (Malay), kaizen [masculine] (Polish), kaizen [masculine] (Portuguese), кайдзе́н (kajdzɛ́n) [masculine] (Russian), кайдзэ́н (kajdzɛ́n) [masculine] (Russian), kaizen (Serbo-Croatian), kayılık (Turkish), kailik (Turkish)
    Sense id: en-kaizen-en-noun-lGdHqTDj Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 74 1 25 Disambiguation of 'Japanese business practice of continuous improvement': 84 16
  2. (by extension) Continuous improvement generally. Tags: broadly, countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-kaizen-en-noun-P2f3PBrL

Verb [English]

IPA: /ˈkaɪˌzən/, /ˈkaɪˌzɛn/ Forms: kaizens [present, singular, third-person], kaizening [participle, present], kaizened [participle, past], kaizened [past]
Rhymes: -aɪzən Etymology: From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ "to correct errors"), from 改 ("to change") + 善 ("good"). Introduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business. Etymology templates: {{der|en|ja|改善}} Japanese 改善, {{der|en|ltc|-}} Middle Chinese, {{cog|cmn|-}} Mandarin, {{der|en|och|-}} Old Chinese Head templates: {{en-verb}} kaizen (third-person singular simple present kaizens, present participle kaizening, simple past and past participle kaizened)
  1. (transitive, business) To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it). Tags: transitive Categories (topical): Business Related terms: quality circle
    Sense id: en-kaizen-en-verb-6-XYQmkf Topics: business

Romanization [Japanese]

Head templates: {{head|ja|romanization|head=|sc=Latn}} kaizen
  1. Rōmaji transcription of かいぜん Tags: Rōmaji, alt-of, romanization Alternative form of: かいぜん

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for kaizen meaning in All languages combined (6.8kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ja",
        "3": "改善"
      },
      "expansion": "Japanese 改善",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
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      "expansion": "Middle Chinese",
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      "expansion": "Mandarin",
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        "2": "och",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Chinese",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ \"to correct errors\"), from 改 (\"to change\") + 善 (\"good\").\nIntroduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.",
  "forms": [
    {
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      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "74 1 25",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        "A Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity."
      ],
      "id": "en-kaizen-en-noun-lGdHqTDj",
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        [
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        [
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        ],
        [
          "productivity",
          "productivity"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
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      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "kaizen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "alt": "かいぜん",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "kaizen",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "word": "改善"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "ms",
          "lang": "Malay",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "word": "kaizen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
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        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "kaizen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kajdzɛ́n",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "кайдзе́н"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kajdzɛ́n",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "кайдзэ́н"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "word": "kaizen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "word": "kayılık"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "84 16",
          "code": "tr",
          "lang": "Turkish",
          "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
          "word": "kailik"
        }
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          "ref": "2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams': We need some serious Kaizen... and we need it now”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3",
          "text": "This is a big mistake, because Japanese railways were largely built using British equipment and technology. But what they have done since is ruthlessly improve and refine it, using Kaizen principles.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "Continuous improvement generally."
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      "id": "en-kaizen-en-noun-P2f3PBrL",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) Continuous improvement generally."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzən/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzɛn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪzən"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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}

{
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      },
      "expansion": "Old Chinese",
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    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ \"to correct errors\"), from 改 (\"to change\") + 善 (\"good\").\nIntroduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.",
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      "form": "kaizening",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kaizened",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
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  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
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        {
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          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [
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            "Society",
            "Social sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it)."
      ],
      "id": "en-kaizen-en-verb-6-XYQmkf",
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, business) To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it)."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "quality circle"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzən/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzɛn/"
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    {
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    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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{
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        "sc": "Latn"
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        "Rōmaji transcription of かいぜん"
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{
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    "English countable nouns",
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    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Japanese",
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    "English terms derived from Old Chinese",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
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    "Rhymes:English/aɪzən/2 syllables"
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      "expansion": "Old Chinese",
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  "etymology_text": "From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ \"to correct errors\"), from 改 (\"to change\") + 善 (\"good\").\nIntroduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.",
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  "pos": "noun",
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    {
      "glosses": [
        "A Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "Japanese"
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        {
          "ref": "2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams': We need some serious Kaizen... and we need it now”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3",
          "text": "This is a big mistake, because Japanese railways were largely built using British equipment and technology. But what they have done since is ruthlessly improve and refine it, using Kaizen principles.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Continuous improvement generally."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) Continuous improvement generally."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzən/"
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    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzɛn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪzən"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "kaizen"
    },
    {
      "alt": "かいぜん",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "kaizen",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "word": "改善"
    },
    {
      "code": "ms",
      "lang": "Malay",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "word": "kaizen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "kaizen"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "kaizen"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kajdzɛ́n",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "кайдзе́н"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kajdzɛ́n",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "кайдзэ́н"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "word": "kaizen"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "word": "kayılık"
    },
    {
      "code": "tr",
      "lang": "Turkish",
      "sense": "Japanese business practice of continuous improvement",
      "word": "kailik"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Boyé Lafayette De Mente",
    "kaizen"
  ],
  "word": "kaizen"
}

{
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    "English entries with incorrect language header",
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    "English terms derived from Old Chinese",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
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        "2": "och",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Chinese",
      "name": "der"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ \"to correct errors\"), from 改 (\"to change\") + 善 (\"good\").\nIntroduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "kaizens",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
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      "form": "kaizening",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kaizened",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kaizened",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
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  ],
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      "word": "quality circle"
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  ],
  "senses": [
    {
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        "en:Business"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "business",
          "business"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, business) To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzən/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkaɪˌzɛn/"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-aɪzən"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Boyé Lafayette De Mente",
    "kaizen"
  ],
  "word": "kaizen"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
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        "2": "romanization",
        "head": "",
        "sc": "Latn"
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      "expansion": "kaizen",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Japanese",
  "lang_code": "ja",
  "pos": "romanization",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "かいぜん"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "Japanese entries with incorrect language header",
        "Japanese non-lemma forms",
        "Japanese romanizations",
        "Japanese terms with non-redundant manual script codes"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Rōmaji transcription of かいぜん"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Rōmaji",
          "romaji"
        ],
        [
          "かいぜん",
          "かいぜん#Japanese"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Rōmaji",
        "alt-of",
        "romanization"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "kaizen"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.