gyoza (English)
Where does "gyoza" come from?
English 'gyoza' was borrowed from Japanese '餃子' (gyōza)[1], which itself came from Chinese 'jiǎozi' (饺子)[1][2]. In Japanese the word names the crescent-shaped, stuffed dumpling that is the Japanese counterpart of the Chinese jiaozi.
Open questions
- It is uncertain which Chinese form the Japanese word was taken from, since it may derive from a variety without palatalization such as 'giǎozi' or from a non-Mandarin Chinese variety. [1] [2]
Full etymology tree
- gyoza (English), 'A Japanese crescent-shaped dumpling filled with a minced stuffing and steamed, boiled or fried; the Japanese equivalent of the Chinese jiaozi.'
- borrowed 餃子 (gyōza) (Japanese), 'gyoza: a kind of dumpling or potsticker with a thin skin, traditionally made with minced pork and then fried, boiled, or steamed'
- borrowed 餃子 (jiǎozi) (Mandarin)
- borrowed 餃子 (gyōza) (Japanese), 'gyoza: a kind of dumpling or potsticker with a thin skin, traditionally made with minced pork and then fried, boiled, or steamed'
Ancestors
- 餃子 (Japanese)
Cognates and doublets
- jiaozi (English)
Sources
Updated October 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris