Meanings
plural kaizens
- countableuncountableA Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity.
- broadlycountableuncountableContinuous improvement generally.
This is a big mistake, because Japanese railways were largely built using British equipment and technology. But what they have done since is ruthlessly improve and refine it, using Kaizen principles.
2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams': We need some serious Kaizen... and we need it now”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3
present singular third person kaizens · participle present kaizening · participle past kaizened · past kaizened
- transitivebusinessTo apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it).
Origin
- Japanese改善
- Englishkaizen
From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ "to correct errors"), from 改 ("to change") + 善 ("good"). Introduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.
More words from Japanese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French kaizen
- kaizenJapanese business practice of continuous improvement
Japanese 改善
- 改善 (kaizen)Japanese business practice of continuous improvement
Malay kaizen
- kaizenJapanese business practice of continuous improvement
Polish kaizen
- kaizenJapanese business practice of continuous improvement
Portuguese kaizen
- kaizenJapanese business practice of continuous improvement
Russian кайдзе́н, кайдзэ́н
- кайдзе́н (kajdzɛ́n)Japanese business practice of continuous improvement
- кайдзэ́н (kajdzɛ́n)Japanese business practice of continuous improvement
Turkish kayılık, kailik
- kayılıkJapanese business practice of continuous improvement
- kailikJapanese business practice of continuous improvement
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with kaizen
All rhymes →Cite this entry
kaizen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaizen
“kaizen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaizen. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kaizen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kaizen.
Source: kaizen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.