sansei
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 三世 (“third generation”), from 三 (san, “third”) + 世 (sei, “generation”).
Noun
sansei (plural sanseis or sansei)
- A grandchild of a Japanese immigrant to the Americas.
- 1973 October 4, Robert Trumbull, “Offspring of Japanese Settlers in U.S. Find Japan Frustrating”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 February 2022:
- Born and brought tip mostly in South America, the United States (particularly Hawaii) and Canada, the nisei and sansei have Japanese features but often speak the language imperfectly, if at all. “If you don't speak Japanese well,” one sansei said ruefully, “it's better to he white.”
- 1978, Gordon Hirabayashi, “Japanese Heritage, Canadian Experience”, in Harold Coward, Leslie S. Kawamura, editors, Religion and Ethnicity, Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, page 66:
- Under these circumstances it may not be unexpected to have the "assimilationist Sansei" protest that he is not a Japanese-Canadian; he is a Canadian, period. None of this hyphenated stuff.
- 1988 May 8, Marlise Simons, “Japanese Gone Brazilian: Unhurried Workaholics”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 17 February 2022:
- While hundreds of nisei and sansei are employed by Japanese giants like Sony, Mitsubishi and Honda, many more work with Brazilians as agronomists, artists, doctors, businessmen and engineers. Colleagues [c]all them “modest and respectful.”
References
- “sansei”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Anagrams
Japanese
Romanization
sansei