"senpai" meaning in All languages combined

See senpai on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈsɛmpaɪ/ [UK, US], /ˈsɛnpaɪ/ [UK, US], [ˈsɛmpaɪ̯] [UK, US], [ˈsɛnpaɪ̯] [UK, US] Forms: senpais [plural], senpai [plural]
Etymology: Borrowed from Japanese 先輩 (senpai). Doublet of sunbae. Etymology templates: {{glossary|loanword|Borrowed}} Borrowed, {{bor|en|ja|先輩|||g=|g2=|g3=|id=|lit=|nocat=|pos=|sc=|sort=|tr=senpai|ts=}} Japanese 先輩 (senpai), {{bor+|en|ja|先輩|tr=senpai}} Borrowed from Japanese 先輩 (senpai), {{dbt|en|sunbae}} Doublet of sunbae Head templates: {{en-noun|+|senpai}} senpai (plural senpais or senpai)
  1. The senior member of a group in Japanese arts; a mentor.
    Sense id: en-senpai-en-noun-RuFvWbd9
  2. (anime and manga, fandom slang) An upperclassman or elder student. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Japanese fiction
    Sense id: en-senpai-en-noun-iqd3kUhj Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 12 88 Topics: anime, broadcasting, comics, film, lifestyle, literature, manga, media, publishing, television
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: sempai

Romanization [Japanese]

Head templates: {{head|ja|romanization|head=|sc=Latn}} senpai
  1. Rōmaji transcription of せんぱい Tags: Rōmaji, alt-of, romanization Alternative form of: せんぱい

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for senpai meaning in All languages combined (4.3kB)

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  "antonyms": [
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      "word": "kohai"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "expansion": "Japanese 先輩 (senpai)",
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        "1": "en",
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      "expansion": "Doublet of sunbae",
      "name": "dbt"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Borrowed from Japanese 先輩 (senpai). Doublet of sunbae.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "senpais",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "senpai",
      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1974, Thomas P. Rohlen, For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in Anthropological Perspective, University of California Press, page 131",
          "text": "Senpai are also known to intercede on behalf of their kohai to explain their mistakes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, Marc Helmold, Ayşe Küçük Yılmaz, Triant Flouris, Thomas Winner, Violeta Cvetkoska, Tracy Dathe, Lean Management, Kaizen, Kata and Keiretsu: Best-Practice Examples and Industry Insights from Japanese Concepts, Springer, page 57",
          "text": "They usually act as a mentor for kōhai, although in reality not all senpai are as generous or genuine about mentoring junior colleagues.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, Alex W. Tong, The Science and Philosophy of Martial Arts: Exploring the Connections Between the Cognitive, Physical, and Spiritual Aspects of Martial Arts, Blue Snake Books, page 203",
          "text": "Many senpai attend the same dōjō for decades.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The senior member of a group in Japanese arts; a mentor."
      ],
      "id": "en-senpai-en-noun-RuFvWbd9",
      "links": [
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          "member",
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        [
          "mentor",
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        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
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          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Japanese fiction",
          "orig": "en:Japanese fiction",
          "parents": [
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            "Japan",
            "Artistic works",
            "Asia",
            "Art",
            "Earth",
            "Eurasia",
            "Culture",
            "Nature",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An upperclassman or elder student."
      ],
      "id": "en-senpai-en-noun-iqd3kUhj",
      "links": [
        [
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        ],
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          "manga",
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        ],
        [
          "slang",
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        ],
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        ]
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(anime and manga, fandom slang) An upperclassman or elder student."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
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      "topics": [
        "anime",
        "broadcasting",
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        "film",
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        "literature",
        "manga",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "television"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛmpaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛnpaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈsɛmpaɪ̯]",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈsɛnpaɪ̯]",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "sempai"
    }
  ],
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}

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  ],
  "word": "senpai"
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{
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  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English doublets",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English indeclinable nouns",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms borrowed from Japanese",
    "English terms derived from Japanese",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation"
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      "expansion": "Doublet of sunbae",
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  ],
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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "senpais",
      "tags": [
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    },
    {
      "form": "senpai",
      "tags": [
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  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
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  "senses": [
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1974, Thomas P. Rohlen, For Harmony and Strength: Japanese White-Collar Organization in Anthropological Perspective, University of California Press, page 131",
          "text": "Senpai are also known to intercede on behalf of their kohai to explain their mistakes.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, Marc Helmold, Ayşe Küçük Yılmaz, Triant Flouris, Thomas Winner, Violeta Cvetkoska, Tracy Dathe, Lean Management, Kaizen, Kata and Keiretsu: Best-Practice Examples and Industry Insights from Japanese Concepts, Springer, page 57",
          "text": "They usually act as a mentor for kōhai, although in reality not all senpai are as generous or genuine about mentoring junior colleagues.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022, Alex W. Tong, The Science and Philosophy of Martial Arts: Exploring the Connections Between the Cognitive, Physical, and Spiritual Aspects of Martial Arts, Blue Snake Books, page 203",
          "text": "Many senpai attend the same dōjō for decades.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The senior member of a group in Japanese arts; a mentor."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "senior",
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      ]
    },
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An upperclassman or elder student."
      ],
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      ],
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        "anime",
        "broadcasting",
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        "film",
        "lifestyle",
        "literature",
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        "publishing",
        "television"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛmpaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈsɛnpaɪ/",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈsɛmpaɪ̯]",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[ˈsɛnpaɪ̯]",
      "tags": [
        "UK",
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "sempai"
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  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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  "word": "senpai"
}

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}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 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.