kami

K5A1M3I1

noun

An animistic god or spirit in the Shinto religion of Japan.

OriginJapanese 神 →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

kami1

nounkami (plural kamis or kami)

plural kamis

  1. ShintoAn animistic god or spirit in the Shinto religion of Japan.

    Chanting the mantra of the fire kami, they called to the blaze, summoning the heart of each flickering flame to life.

    2000, Ree Soesbee, “Armies on the March”, in The Crane (Legend of the Five Rings), Renton, Wash.: Wizards of the Coast, →ISBN, page 96
    1 more example

    But Ryōtora had definitely moved a shintai during the makeshift festival – and it must have been Saiun-nushi’s, because Sekken couldn’t imagine the shugenja could call a kami into a foreign vessel without noticing.

    2021, Marie Brennan [pseudonym; Bryn Neuenschwander], chapter 18, in The Night Parade of 100 Demons (Legend of the Five Rings), Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: Aconyte Books, →ISBN, page 211
  2. human sciencesThe metaphysical causal generator of motion, life, or divinish aura.

kami2

nounkami (plural kami)
  1. artsA basic origami paper, usually printed with a colour or pattern on one side.

Kami3

nounKami pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyAn ethnic and linguistic group in Morogoro Region, Tanzania.
proper noun
  1. A Bantu language of Tanzania.
  2. A Niger-Congo language of Nigeria.

Origin

kami · noun

  1. Japanese神“god, spirit, deity”
  2. Englishkami

Borrowed from Japanese 神 (kami, “god, spirit, deity”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

kami · noun

  1. Japanese紙“paper”
  2. Englishkami

Borrowed from Japanese 紙 (kami, “paper”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Japanese 神, 紙
  • 神 (kami)a god or spirit in the Shinto religion of Japan
  • 紙 (kami)origami paper

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Mikamakiakimkaim
Cite this entry
APA

kami. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kami

MLA

“kami.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kami. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kami,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kami.

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