Borrowing from Japanese 神道 (Shintō), from Middle Chinese 神道 (MC zyin dawX, “ways of the gods”), ultimately from Old Chinese 神道 (OC *hlin l'uːʔ, “ways [doings] of Heaven [in matters of fortune or fate]”).
Borrowing from Japanese 神道 (Shintō), from Middle Chinese 神道 (MC zyin dawX, “ways of the gods”), ultimately from Old Chinese 神道 (OC *hlin l'uːʔ, “ways [doings] of Heaven [in matters of fortune or fate]”).
Meanings
Formerly the state religion of Japan, a type of animism involving the worship of ancestors and nature spirits.
The number of Shinto deities is very great. The Yengishiki enumerates 3,132 officially recognized shrines, and although the same Gods are reckoned more than once, as being worshipped in different places, still their name is legion. 1905, W.G. Aston, Shinto: The Way of the Gods, page 66: