Etymology

yokai

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Today it means: Any of various supernatural monsters, sometimes shapeshifters, in Japanese folklore. Full definition →

Japanese 妖怪 ← Middle Chinese 妖怪
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The story

  1. Middle Chinese · derived from妖怪
  2. Japanese · borrowed from妖怪“ghost, phantom, monster”
  3. English todayyokai

Borrowed from Japanese 妖怪 (yōkai, “ghost, phantom, monster”), from Middle Chinese 妖怪 ('jew kweajᴴ) with the similar meaning.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.