Standard Lemma guide

sensei

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈsɛnseɪ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɛnseɪ
  • CMU ARPABET: S EH1 N S EY2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A martial arts instructor; especially one for a Japanese martial art.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sifu, shifu

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A Japanese (language) teacher (sometimes used as a suffix attached to the name of a teacher, principally in translations from Japanese).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A teacher, guide or mentor, in the context of Japan.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 先生(せんせい) (sensei, “teacher; elder”), from Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen sraeng, “master, elder”), from 先 (MC sen, “earlier, first”) + 生 (MC sraeng, “born”). Compare modern Mandarin 先生 (xiānshēng, “Mr.”). Doublet of sinseh, from Hokkien 先生 (sin-sen).

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُدَرِّب (mudarrib) — martial arts instructor
  • Chinese Cantonese: 師傅 /师傅 (si1 fu6, si1 fu2) — martial arts instructor
  • Chinese: 師傅 /师傅 (zh-min-nan) — martial arts instructor
  • Chinese Mandarin: 師傅 /师傅 (shīfu, shīfù) — martial arts instructor
  • Finnish: mestari — martial arts instructor
  • French: sensei — martial arts instructor
  • Galician: sensei — martial arts instructor
  • German: Sensei — martial arts instructor
  • Greek: σενσέι (senséi) — martial arts instructor
  • Indonesian: sensei — martial arts instructor
  • Japanese: 先生 (sensei) — martial arts instructor
  • Korean: 선생 (seonsaeng) — martial arts instructor
  • Korean: 선생님 (seonsaengnim) — martial arts instructor
  • Persian: سنسی (sensey) — martial arts instructor
  • Portuguese: sensei — martial arts instructor
  • Russian: сэнсэ́й (sɛnsɛ́j) — martial arts instructor
  • Russian: ма́стер (máster) — martial arts instructor
  • Russian: сенсе́й (senséj) — martial arts instructor
  • Spanish: sensei — martial arts instructor
  • Spanish: senséi — martial arts instructor
  • French: sensei — Japanese language teacher
  • German: Sensei — Japanese language teacher
  • Indonesian: sensei — Japanese language teacher
  • Japanese: 先生 (sensei) — Japanese language teacher
  • Persian: سنسی (sensey) — Japanese language teacher
  • Portuguese: sensei — Japanese language teacher
  • Russian: сэнсэ́й (sɛnsɛ́j) — Japanese language teacher
  • Japanese: 先生 (sensei) — teacher in the context of Japan
  • Korean: 센세이 (sensei) — teacher in the context of Japan