忍者

Chinese

		to bear; to endure; to tolerate to bear; to endure; to tolerate; to restrain oneself	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)
trad. (忍者)		忍	者
simp. #(忍者)		忍	者

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rěnzhě

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˇ ㄓㄜˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan² ze²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): jím-chiá / lím-chiá

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rěnzhě [Phonetic: rénzhě]
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˇ ㄓㄜˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rěnjhě
    • Wade–Giles: jên³-chê³
    • Yale: rěn-jě
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: reenjee
    • Palladius: жэньчжэ (žɛnʹčžɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐən²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan² ze²
    • Yale: yán jé
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan² dze²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen² zé²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐn³⁵ t͡sɛː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: jím-chiá
    • Tâi-lô: jím-tsiá
    • Phofsit Daibuun: jymciar
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /zim⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sia⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lím-chiá
    • Tâi-lô: lím-tsiá
    • Phofsit Daibuun: lymciar
    • IPA (Taipei): /lim⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sia⁵³/

Noun

忍者

1. (historical) ninja (covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan)
2. person trained primarily in stealth, espionage, assassination

Japanese

忍者 (ninja): a woodblock print of a ninja from the Hokusai Manga, published in 1814.

Kanji in this term
忍	者
にん Grade: S	しゃ > じゃ Grade: 3
goon

Alternative spelling
忍者 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Uncertain.

The most consistent term in the historical record appears to be 忍び (shinobi, “sneaking, hiding”), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 忍ぶ (shinobu, “to endure, to bear; to hide, to conceal oneself; to sneak into or out of a place”). This in turn was extended into 忍びの者 (shinobi no mono, “sneaking person, person of sneaking”), cited to a text from 1689.

This ninja reading became more common in Japanese in the modern era, possibly due to a number of popular manga series after World War Two. This reading may have arisen as a shift in reading of the kun'yomi phrase 忍びの者 (shinobi no mono), applying the on'yomi to the kanji alone to create a kanji-compound term.

The sha changes to ja as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にんじゃ [níꜜǹjà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ĩɲ̟d͡ʑa̠]

Noun

忍(にん)者(じゃ) • (ninja) 

1. a ninja (person trained in stealth, espionage, assassination and ninjutsu)
   • 2011 April 9, Hideaki Sorachi, “第(だい)三(さん)百(びゃく)三(さん)十(じゅう)七(なな)訓(くん)　だいじょぶだ〰 (Dai-sanbyakusanjūnana-kun Daijobu Da~, “Lesson 337: It’s Gonna Be Okay~”)”, in [銀](ぎん)[魂](たま), volume 39 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:

     いやぁ　このデリケートな時(じ)期(き)によくやるな　お前(まえ)　あの雑(ざっ)食(しょく)性(せい)一(ひと)晩(ばん)であれだけの数(かず)をさばくタフさ　そして何(なに)よりその早(はや)さ……お前(まえ)　忍(にん)者(じゃ)にならねーか？

     Iyā kono derikēto na jiki ni yoku yaru na omae Ano zasshokusei hitoban de are dake no kazu o sabaku tafusa soshite nani yori sono hayasa…… Omae ninja ni naranē ka?

     But you did really well in such a delicate situation. That toughness to omnivorously handle so many in one night, and that speed above all… You wanna be a ninja?

     忍(にん)者(じゃ)にそんなす早(ばや)さいらねーだろ‼

     Ninja ni sonna subayasa iranē daro‼

     A ninja doesn’t need that kinda speed!!

Derived terms

• 忍(ニン)者(ジャ)烏(カラス)鮫(ザメ) (ninja karasuzame, “ninja lanternshark (Etmopterus benchleyi)”)

Descendants

• Chinese:

  → Mandarin: 忍者 (rěnzhě)

  → Cantonese: 忍者 (jan² ze²)

• → Danish: ninja
• → English: ninja
• → French: ninja
• → German: Ninja
• → Korean: 닌자 (ninja)
• → Macedonian: нинџа (nindža)
• → Portuguese: ninja
• → Russian: ни́ндзя (níndzja)
• → Vietnamese: nhẫn giả

See also

• 忍(しの)び (shinobi)
• 忍(にん)法(ぽう) (ninpō)
• 忍(にん)術(じゅつ) (ninjutsu)
• 忍(にん)術(じゅつ)使(つか)い (ninjutsutsukai)
• 伊(い)賀(が)者(もの) (igamono)
• 甲(こう)賀(が)者(もの) (kōgamono)
• くノ一(いち) (kunoichi)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
忍	者

Noun

忍者

1. chữ Hán form of nhẫn giả (“ninja”).