Kakure Kirishitan

noun

A member of the Japanese Catholic Church during the Edo period who went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s.

OriginJapanese 隠れキリシタン →
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Meanings

nounKakure Kirishitan (plural Kakure Kirishitans)

plural Kakure Kirishitans

  1. historicalA member of the Japanese Catholic Church during the Edo period who went underground after the Shimabara Rebellion in the 1630s.

Origin

  1. Japanese隠れキリシタン
  2. EnglishKakure Kirishitan

Borrowed from Japanese 隠れキリシタン (Kakure Kirishitan, literally “hidden Christian”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Kakure Kirishitan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kakure%20Kirishitan

MLA

“Kakure Kirishitan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kakure%20Kirishitan. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Kakure Kirishitan,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kakure%20Kirishitan.

Source: Kakure Kirishitan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.