Etymology: < Japanese karate, denoting the martial art, literally ‘empty hand’, alteration (with kanji substitution) of karate , denoting the martial art, literally ‘China hand’ (1898 or earlier; 18th cent. denoting Chinese-style handicrafts; < kara- of or relating to China + te hand: on both see note), perhaps by association with karate the quality of being empty-handed (16th cent.; < kara emptiness, (in compounds) empty + te hand). As fuller names of the martial art compare Japanese karatejutsu (1925 or earlier, apparently after jūjutsu jujitsu n.) and karatedō , denoting the martial art (1935 or earlier; < karate + dō way: see budo n. and compare Tang Soo Do n.).Japanese kara (with reference to China) is an alternative reading of the kanji for tō- Tang dynasty, China, of or relating to China, foreign ( < Middle Chinese; compare Chinese Táng Tang n.⁵). In 1935 (in the context of political tensions between Japan and China), this element was replaced with the homophone kara empty (of native Japanese origin and written with a different kanji), apparently facilitated by the pre-existing compound karate denoting the quality of being empty-handed. Japanese te is an inherited Japanese word written with the same kanji as shu- hand ( < Middle Chinese; compare Chinese shǒu and also the discussion at Tang Soo Do n.). Specific compound. The compound karate chop n. is apparently an English formation; the Japanese name for the technique is shutō uchi, literally ‘hand-sword strike’ (also called knife-hand strike in English). Compare also Japanese karate-choppu, used in the context of (Western-style) professional wrestling (1956 or earlier; probably < English).

Etymology: < karate n.