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Zaibatsu

2 stages from Japanese to English.

Today it means a large, family-controlled industrial and financial conglomerate, historically associated with prewar Japan

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

zaibatsu→zaibatsu

Japanese · late 1800s

"a powerful family-owned business conglomerate"

literally 'financial clique', naming the family-controlled industrial and banking conglomerates of imperial Japan

English · early-mid 1900s

"a large, family-controlled Japanese business conglomerate"

borrowed by economists and journalists describing Japan's industrial giants

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