katsu

Where does the word "katsu" come from? It comes from English cutlet, passing through Japanese before entering English (2000s-2010s).

Katsu’s story begins in English: cutlet meant “a thin, breaded slice of meat.” The English word for a thin slice of breaded, fried meat. By Meiji era, the word had taken hold in Japanese as katsuretsu. Borrowed and adapted into a breaded, deep-fried cutlet dish, then clipped to 'katsu'. It reached English by 2000s-2010s as katsu. Re-imported into English as Japanese-style curry and cutlet dishes spread abroad. Today, katsu means a Japanese-style breaded and deep-fried cutlet, typically pork or chicken.

1. Stage 1 · English · 1700s cutlet "a thin, breaded slice of meat", the English word for a thin slice of breaded, fried meat.
2. Stage 2 · Japanese · Meiji era katsuretsu "a breaded, deep-fried cutlet", borrowed and adapted into a breaded, deep-fried cutlet dish, then clipped to 'katsu'.
3. Stage 3 · English · 2000s-2010s katsu "a Japanese-style breaded, deep-fried cutlet", re-imported into English as Japanese-style curry and cutlet dishes spread abroad.