entry
rickshaw
/ˈɹɪk.ʃɔː/A human-drawn carriage, usually carrying one passenger
From Japanese, from Middle Chinese jin (person) + Japanese, from Middle Chinese riki (strength) + Japanese, from Middle Chinese sha (cart).
from Japanese jin "a man" + riki "power" + sha "carriage." The elements are said to be ultimately
Word Ancestry
from Japanese jin "a man" + riki "power" + sha "carriage." The elements are said to be ultimately
In nineteenth-century Japan, a passenger could be carried through crowded streets by a running human being rather than a horse: the original jinrikisha was literally a “human-power vehicle.” Its three pieces are wonderfully practical—jin, “person,” riki, “strength,” and sha, “cart.” English first encountered the full form in accounts of Japan during the 1870s, then trimmed it down to the brisk little rickshaw; Rudyard Kipling helped make the spelling familiar in English, especially through his ghost story “The Phantom ’Rickshaw” (1888). The vehicle word may preserve an ancient Chinese term for a wheeled vehicle, perhaps related ultimately to the Indo-European family behind wheel, though that deeper connection is proposed rather than certain. Remember it as a tiny etymological machine: a person’s power pushing a cart, compressed into one word.
The Story
In nineteenth-century Japan, a passenger could be carried through crowded streets by a running human being rather than a horse: the original jinrikisha was literally a “human-power vehicle.” Its three pieces are wonderfully practical—jin, “person,” riki, “strength,” and sha, “cart.” English first encountered the full form in accounts of Japan during the 1870s, then trimmed it down to the brisk little rickshaw; Rudyard Kipling helped make the spelling familiar in English, especially through his ghost story “The Phantom ’Rickshaw” (1888). The vehicle word may preserve an ancient Chinese term for a wheeled vehicle, perhaps related ultimately to the Indo-European family behind wheel, though that deeper connection is proposed rather than certain. Remember it as a tiny etymological machine: a person’s power pushing a cart, compressed into one word.
Modern Usage
A low-trust slang usage meaning nonsense or something outrageous
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entry describing “rickshaw” as the opposite of “crenshaw”
Kin & Kindred
From 'jin'·person; human
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'riki'·strength; power
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'sha'·cart; wheeled vehicle
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia