honcho

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Japanese 班長 (はんちょう, hanchō, “squad leader”), from 19th c. (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Mandarin bānzhǎng 班長 "team leader". Probably entered English during World War II: many apocryphal stories describe American soldiers hearing Japanese prisoners-of-war refer to their lieutenants as "hanchō".

Pronunciation

• enPR: hŏnʹchō, IPA^(key): /ˈhɑn.tʃoʊ/, Hyphenation: HAHN-choh
• enPR: hŏnʹchō, IPA^(key): /ˈhɒn.tʃəʊ/, Hyphenation: HON-choh
• Rhymes: -ɒntʃəʊ

Noun

honcho (plural honchos)

1. (informal) boss, leader
   • 1983: Max Von Sidewinder (aka Sydow) is back to play Spectre's head honcho, only now we see his face! — net.movies, 7 Nov 1983
   • 2001: Gulfstream makes jets for both Hollywood honchos and foreign governments like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. — Michael Moore, Stupid White Men, 2001, p.22

Derived terms

• head honcho

Verb

honcho (third-person singular simple present honchos, present participle honchoing, simple past and past participle honchoed)

1. (transitive, informal) To lead or manage.

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Japanese

Romanization

honcho

1. Rōmaji transcription of ほんちょ