sudoku

Where does the word "sudoku" come from? It comes from Japanese su + doku, and was adopted directly into English (2000s).

Sudoku’s story begins in Japanese: su + doku meant “the digits must remain single.” Combining "su" (number) and "doku" (single), short for "suji wa dokushin ni kagiru" (the digits must be single). It reached English by 2000s as sudoku. Japanese 'single digits'; Nikoli published it in 1984, and The Times launched a craze in 2004. Today, sudoku means a logic-based number-placement puzzle played on a 9x9 grid.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · 1980s su + doku "the digits must remain single", combining "su" (number) and "doku" (single), short for "suji wa dokushin ni kagiru" (the digits must be single).
2. Stage 2 · English · 2000s sudoku "a number-placement logic puzzle", Japanese 'single digits'; Nikoli published it in 1984, and The Times launched a craze in 2004.