Standard Lemma guide

zaibatsu

noun · 2 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /zaɪˈbætsuː/
  • General-American: /zaɪˈbɑtsu/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ætsuː
  • CMU ARPABET: Z EY2 B AE1 T S UW2 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A large business conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan, generally controlled by a single family or individual.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: business

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any large corporation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, broadly

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: megacorporation, supercorporation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: megacorporation, supercorporation

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 財閥(ざいばつ) (zaibatsu), coined from Middle Chinese 財 (d͡zoj, “wealth”) + 閥 (bjot, “powerful family”). Doublet of chaebol.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 財閥 /财阀 (cáifá) — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Estonian: zaibatsu — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Finnish: zaibatsu — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • French: zaibatsu — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • German: Zaibatsu — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Japanese: 財閥 (zaibatsu) — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Korean: 재벌 (jaebeol) — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Korean: 자이바쓰 (jaibasseu) — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Polish: zaibatsu — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Portuguese: zaibatsu — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Russian: дзайба́цу (dzajbácu) — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan
  • Vietnamese: tài phiệt — a Japanese conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan