yakitori

Where does the word "yakitori" come from? It comes from Japanese yakitori, and was adopted directly into English (mid-1900s).

Yakitori’s story begins in Japanese: yakitori meant “grilled skewered chicken.” Literally 'grilled bird', skewered chicken sold at street stalls. It reached English by mid-1900s as yakitori. Borrowed as Japanese-style grill restaurants opened abroad. Today, yakitori means bite-sized pieces of grilled, skewered chicken in the Japanese style.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · Edo era yakitori "grilled skewered chicken", literally 'grilled bird', skewered chicken sold at street stalls.
2. Stage 2 · English · mid-1900s yakitori "Japanese-style grilled skewered chicken", borrowed as Japanese-style grill restaurants opened abroad.