Word.ws English Dictionary

katakana

/ˌkætəˈkænə/US/ˌkætəˈkɑːnə/

katakana noun: a Japanese syllabary used when writing words borrowed from foreign languages other than Chinese, specific names of plants and animals and other jargon, onomatopoeia, or to emphasize a word or phrase. Also used to write the Ainu language.

Noun

katakana (countable and uncountable, plural katakana or katakanas)

  1. (uncountable) A Japanese syllabary used when writing words borrowed from foreign languages other than Chinese, specific names of plants and animals and other jargon, onomatopoeia, or to emphasize a word or phrase. Also used to write the Ainu language.
  2. A character thereof.

Proper noun capitalized: Katakana

Katakana

  1. Alternative letter-case form of katakana.

katakana meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Tagalog and Arabic

katakana in Hindi

Japanese syllabary
काटाकना kāṭāknā, काटाकाना kāṭākānā, काताकाना kātākānā, काताकना kāṭāknā

katakana in Marathi

Japanese syllabary
काताकाना kātākānā

katakana in Tagalog

Japanese syllabary
katakana

katakana in Arabic

Japanese syllabary
كَاتَاكَانَا katakānā
More languagesFewer languages
katakana in Malay
katakana
katakana in Persian
کاتاکانا
katakana in Thai
คะตะคะนะ ká-dtà-ká-ná
katakana in Vietnamese
katakana, chữ cứng

Forms of katakana

pluralkatakana
pluralkatakanas
alternative form (archaic)katagana

Plural of katakana: katakana or katakanas

Origin of katakana

From Japanese 片(かた)仮(か)名(な) (katakana).

Words that rhyme with katakana

13 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about katakana

What does katakana mean?
Katakana means a Japanese syllabary used when writing words borrowed from foreign languages other than Chinese, specific names of plants and animals and other jargon, onomatopoeia, or to emphasize a word or phrase. Also used to write the Ainu language.
What is katakana in Hindi?
Katakana in Hindi is काटाकना (kāṭāknā), काटाकाना (kāṭākānā), काताकाना (kātākānā). See Katakana meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is katakana?
Katakana can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce katakana?
Katakana is pronounced /ˌkætəˈkænə/ (UK).
What is the plural of katakana?
The plural of katakana is katakana.

Words near katakana in the dictionary

  1. Katahdin
  2. Katahdins
  3. katahs
  4. kataifi
  5. katajjaq
  6. katakana
  7. katakanas
  8. katakanization
  9. katakanizations
  10. katakanize
  11. katakanized

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: katakana (page history and authors); Katakana (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-katakana.wav.

Cite this entry: “katakana.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/katakana. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.