anime en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈæn.ɪ.meɪ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos Proto-Italic *anamos Latin animus Latin anima Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin animō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin animatiōlbor. English animationbor. Japanese アニメーション (animēshon)clip. Japanese アニメ (anime)bor. English anime Borrowed from Japanese アニメ (anime), an abbreviation of アニメーション (animēshon), itself borrowed from English animation, from Latin animātiō, from animāre.
Meanings
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(countable) An animated work that originated in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.
These anime prepared the way for Otaku no video, a two-part Original Video Animation (OVA).
2006, Thomas LaMarre, edited by Tomiko Yoda and Harry D. Harootunian, Japan After Japan, page 363:Originally found in the opening dialogue sequence from the 1989 Japanese space shoot’em up game “Zero Wing,” this awkward translation of the phrase “all of your bases are under our control” swept across gaming message boards and forums in the late 1990s, giving rise to one of the first epic-scale “Photoshop memes” based on poorly translated quotes from Japanese video games and animes.
2014 March 11, Ben Huh, “10 classic memes that owned the Internet”, in CNN:Usually the manga comes first, though it may be an offshoot of a novel, and an anime may be inspired by a video game.
2005, Joan D. Vinge, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighteenth Annual Collection, page cix:Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon / 'Cause that cartoon has got the boom anime babes / That make me think the wrong thing
1998, “One Week”, performed by Barenaked Ladies:After three months of successful sales in manga form, it was made into an anime for television.
2005, Peter J. Katzenstein, A World of Regions, page 165:
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(uncountable) An artistic style originating in, and associated with, Japanese animation, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of animated works from other countries.
Touching on themes as disparate as sex, death, science fiction and romance, manga and anime catered to all ages and tastes. Commercial hits like “Pokémon” and “Dragon Ball Z,” meanwhile, projected a new image of Japan to the world.
2019 July 28, Emiko Jozuka, “Japanese anime: From ‘Disney of the East’ to a global industry worth billions”, in CNN:I can draw an anime version of you, if you want.
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(countable, proscribed, rare) An animated work, regardless of the country of origin.
Let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way first: Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like the anime, as you’d hope and want it to, animations are stunning, and it feels smooth in the way that great fighting games should.
2026 June 30, Will Borger, “Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game Has Me Excited to Get into the Lab | IGN Preview”, in IGN, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2026:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| anime | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| animé | alternative | lexicographic | |
| animes | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Coordinates
dònghuà (a Chinese animated work) · manga (a Japanese animated work)
Deriveds
animelike · pseudo anime · Japanime · animesque · anitwt · animeverse · manime · animanga · Americanime · Ashnime · tranime
Hypernyms
animation (a Japanese animated work) · cartoon (a Japanese animated work)
Synonyms
Japanime (a Japanese animated work) · Japanimation (a Japanese animated work)
Translations (92)
it anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · acw أنمي (an animated work originated in Japan) · hi अनिमे (an animated work originated in Japan) · km អានីមេ (an animated work originated in Japan) · tk anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · gl anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · la animātiō Iaponica (an animated work originated in Japan) · eo animeo (an animated work originated in Japan) · ar أَنِمِي (an animated work originated in Japan) · bg аниме́ (an animated work originated in Japan) · ja アニメーション (an animated work originated in Japan) · eu anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · ta அனிமே (an animated work originated in Japan) · fa انیمه (an animated work originated in Japan) · ru аниме́ (an animated work originated in Japan) · cmn 日本卡通 (an animated work originated in Japan) · sh anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · es animé (an animated work originated in Japan) · fi anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · ms anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · vi hoạt họa Nhật Bản (an animated work originated in Japan) · ko 애니메이션 (an animated work originated in Japan) · tg аниме (an animated work originated in Japan) · ru анимэ́ (an animated work originated in Japan) · bar anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · my အန်နီမဲ (an animated work originated in Japan) · sa अनिमी (an animated work originated in Japan) · es ánime (an animated work originated in Japan) · ca anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · he אנימציה יפנית (an animated work originated in Japan) · ast anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · sh аниме (an animated work originated in Japan) · sq anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · cmn 日式動畫 /日式动画 (an animated work originated in Japan) · oc anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · ko 아니메 (an animated work originated in Japan) · ja アニメ (an animated work originated in Japan) · uk аніме́ (an animated work originated in Japan) · ka ანიმე (an animated work originated in Japan) · fr animé (an animated work originated in Japan) · tl anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · uz anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · nl anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · kk аниме (an animated work originated in Japan) · et anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · pt animê (an animated work originated in Japan) · cmn 動畫 /动画 (an animated work originated in Japan) · pl anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · ro anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · mk а́ниме (an animated work originated in Japan) · bn অ্যানিমে (an animated work originated in Japan) · haw ʻanime (an animated work originated in Japan) · cs anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · be анімэ́ (an animated work originated in Japan) · el άνιμε (an animated work originated in Japan) · ru япо́нский мультфи́льм (an animated work originated in Japan) · de Anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · th อะนิเมะ (an animated work originated in Japan) · lt anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · nan-hbl á-nī-mè (an animated work originated in Japan) · he אנימה (an animated work originated in Japan) · id anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · sv animé (an animated work originated in Japan) · da anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · hy անիմե (an animated work originated in Japan) · sv anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · ky аниме (an animated work originated in Japan) · mn аниме (an animated work originated in Japan) · no anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · sq vizatimor japoneze (an animated work originated in Japan) · is anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · la anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · az anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · pt anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · sk anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · af anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · lv anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · lo ອະນິເມະ (an animated work originated in Japan) · ur انیمے (an animated work originated in Japan) · mr आनिमे (an animated work originated in Japan) · cmn 日本動畫 /日本动画 (an animated work originated in Japan) · ml അനിമെ (an animated work originated in Japan) · tr anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · pt animé (an animated work originated in Japan) · cmn 動漫 /动漫 (an animated work originated in Japan) · hu anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · vi hoạt hình Nhật Bản (an animated work originated in Japan) · es anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · sl anime (an animated work originated in Japan) · hi ऐनिमे (an animated work originated in Japan) · yi אַנימע (an animated work originated in Japan) · am አኒሜ (an animated work originated in Japan)