karaoke

Where does the word "karaoke" come from? It comes from Japanese karaoke, and was adopted directly into English (1980s).

Karaoke’s story begins in Japanese: karaoke meant “empty orchestra.” Blends "kara" (empty) with a clipped form of "okesutora" (orchestra). It reached English by 1980s as karaoke. Spread internationally with karaoke bars and machines. Today, karaoke means entertainment where people sing along to recorded backing music.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · 1970s karaoke "empty orchestra", blends "kara" (empty) with a clipped form of "okesutora" (orchestra).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1980s karaoke "singing along to pre-recorded backing music", spread internationally with karaoke bars and machines.