sampan
SAM-pan · noun
CantoneseHokkienEnglish
Origin
Sampan comes from Sinitic, most likely Cantonese 三板 (saam¹ baan²) or Hokkien 舢板 (sam-pán).
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Journey
The word passed directly from these southern Chinese languages into English with its meaning intact, naming the same small flat-bottomed boat it always described.
Related words
This word entered English on its own, without relatives already in the language.
More words
From Hokkien