katakana

American  

[kah-tuh-kah-nuh, kah-tah-kah-nah] / ˌkɑ təˈkɑ nə, ˈkɑ tɑˈkɑ nɑ /

noun

1. the more angular, less commonly used of the two Japanese syllabaries.

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katakana British  

/ ˌkɑːtəˈkɑːnə /

noun

1. one of the two systems of syllabic writing employed for the representation of Japanese, based on Chinese ideograms. It is used mainly for foreign or foreign-derived words

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Etymology

Origin of katakana

1720–30; < Japanese, equivalent to kata part (of kanji) + kana kana

Example Sentences

Before we parted ways, he asked me to repeat my name, and wrote it down on the back of a receipt in katakana, a Japanese alphabet commonly used for foreign words.

From New York Times • Jun. 23, 2023

The company announced on Twitter it had decided to replace the penguin with "Dojo-chan" - an anthropomorphic representation of the Japanese katakana character "do".

From BBC • Dec. 21, 2022

In a similar vein, Kana Quest is a sliding block puzzle game that’s designed to teach you Japanese hiragana and katakana characters.

From The Verge • Mar. 29, 2020

The same number of basic katakana symbols are commonly used to write foreign loan words.

From The Guardian • Jun. 5, 2017

The characters in this syllabary were called katakana, i. e. "parts of letters."

From The Progress of Ethnology An Account of Recent Archaeological, Philological and Geographical Researches in Various Parts of the Globe by Bartlett, John Russell