Etymology

Pokémon

Po·ké·mon

Today it means: A pocket monster; a fictional creature from the universe of the Pokémon franchise. Full definition →

Japanese ポケモン (Pokemon) ← English monster ← Middle English monstre
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic*puhô
  2. Frankish*pokō
  3. Old Frenchpoche
  4. Anglo-Normanpoket
  5. Middle Englishpocket
  6. Englishpocket
  7. Japaneseポケット
  8. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*monéyeti
  10. Proto-Italic*man-eje-
  11. Proto-Italic*moneō
  12. Proto-Italic*monestrom
  13. Latinmōnstrum
  14. Old Frenchmonstre
  15. Middle Englishmonstre
  16. Englishmonster
  17. Japaneseモンスター
  18. Japaneseポケットモンスターclip.
  19. Japaneseポケモン (Pokemon)
  20. English todayPokémon

Borrowed from Japanese ポケモン (Pokemon), a clipped compound of ポケットモンスター (Poketto Monsutā), itself from English pocket monster. The acute accent was added to signify the pronunciation.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.