ukiyo-e

UK/uːˌkiːjəʊˈeɪ/US/uːˈki.oʊˌeɪ/

noun

A Japanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life.

OriginJapanese 浮世絵 →
First used 19th c.
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Meanings

nounukiyo-e (plural ukiyo-e)

alternative ukiyoe · alternative ukiyoé · alternative ukiyoye

  1. artA Japanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life.First known use 19th c.

    Starling looked past Carter, to an ukiyo-e woodcut of a Kabuki player.

    2001, Glen David Gold, Carter Beats the Devil
    2 more examples

    Like many Ukiyo-e artists, Jacoulet hires woodcarvers and printers to convert his ideas into prints.

    1946 January 20, “Approved by the Air Force”, in Time

    The masters of Ukiyo-e, the woodblock print, like Utamaro, immortalized its great courtesans and its famous houses of prostitution.

    1958 April 2, The Times, p.11 col. F

Origin

  1. Japanese浮世絵
  2. Englishukiyo-e

Borrowed from Japanese 浮世絵 (ukiyoe), from 浮 (uki, “floating, fleeting”) + 世 (yo, “world; era”) + 絵 (e, “image, picture”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 浮世繪 /浮世绘
  • 浮世繪 /浮世绘 (fúshìhuì)Japanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life
French ukiyo-e
  • ukiyo-eJapanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life
Japanese 浮世絵
  • 浮世絵 (ukiyoe)Japanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life
Polish ukiyo-e
  • ukiyo-eJapanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life
Russian укиёэ́
  • укиёэ́ (ukijoé)Japanese painting or woodblock print depicting everyday life
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

Source: ukiyo-e on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.