-san

suffix

Honorific ending used to indicate that a person is Japanese, talking with a Japanese, or treated like a Japanese.

OriginJapanese さん →
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Meanings

suffix-san (proper noun-forming suffix)
  1. informalchiefly Japanophilic slangHonorific ending used to indicate that a person is Japanese, talking with a Japanese, or treated like a Japanese.

Origin

  1. Japaneseさん“Mr, Ms”
  2. English-san

Borrowed from Japanese さん (san, “Mr, Ms”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic سَان-
  • سَان- (-sān)Japanese honorific ending
French -san
  • -sanJapanese honorific ending
Hindi -सान
  • -सान (-sān)Japanese honorific ending
Japanese さん
  • さん (-san)Japanese honorific ending
Korean 상
  • 상 (sang)Japanese honorific ending
Russian -сан
  • -сан (-san)Japanese honorific ending
Thai ซัง
  • ซัง (sang)Japanese honorific ending
Cite this entry
APA

-san. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-san

MLA

“-san.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-san. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “-san,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/-san.

Source: -san on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.