Onsen

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɒnˈsɛn/

Definitions

1. A Japanese facility that provides a communal bathing experience in natural hot spring water
2. A wellness center in Japan where people can enjoy soaking in therapeutic geothermal waters
3. A location in Japan where people gather to bathe in geothermally heated natural water

Etymology: The Japanese word for a hot spring is a compound built from two Chinese characters that were borrowed along with much of the written language. The first, 温 (read "on" in this reading), means "warm," and the second, 泉 (read "sen"), means "spring" or "springs." Put together, 温泉 literally names a warm spring, and the same two characters are still read as "wēnquán" in modern Mandarin, so the Japanese word is essentially a Chinese term pronounced in Japanese fashion. The Japanese reading as "onsen" reflects the older Chinese pronunciation that came into Japan centuries ago, when Japanese scholars adopted Chinese characters and their sounds. Many everyday Japanese words follow this pattern, pairing a Chinese-derived reading with a native one, so the same character can carry different sounds depending on context. Here the older Chinese sound was kept whole, so the word in English still carries that inherited sound.