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ninja

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Ninja and NINJA

English

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A woodblock print of a ninja from the Hokusai Manga, published in 1814.
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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A romanized borrowing of Japanese 忍者 (ninja), popularized within Japanese by manga after World War II and in English by Eric Van Lustbader's 1980 novel The Ninja and the 1981 movie Enter the Ninja, of uncertain derivation but with an underlying sense of secret or hidden person.

The “Mongolian miner” sense arose from the supposed resemblance of the bowls used to wash ore with mercury to the shells of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Juggalo slang sense arose via influence from AAVE nigga.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ninja (plural ninja or ninjas)

  1. (martial arts) A person trained in ninjutsu, especially (historical) one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period.
    • 1964, Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice, page 126:
      The men... are now learning to be ninja or ‘stealers-in’.
    • 2000 October 15, Denver Post, page 10:
      Spies prowled Japan from the seventh century, but the secretive ninja left few written records.
  2. (figurative) A person considered similarly skillful to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation.
    • 1972 September 11, Newsweek, Int'l ed., p. 28:
      For months the Japanese spoke of national-security adviser Henry Kissinger as a ninja—the magician of Japanese legends who performs supernatural acts and practices sorcery.
    • 1987 August 3, Business Week, page 40:
      Other bankers are dubbing themselves ninja, modern-day descendants of the superspies of 17th century samurai houses.
    • 1991 August 4, The Guardian, page 13:
      Young banking and securities firms executives (nicknamed the ninja...) are especially assigned to cultivate relations with the finance ministry. Only verbal instructions are ever given to the ninja.
    • 2017, Darren Jones, JavaScript: Novice to Ninja[2], SitePoint, →ISBN:
      A JavaScript ninja should write lots of code and build things!
    1. (video games, fandom slang, in the plural) A notional draconian arm of a corporation (originally Nintendo), tasked with dealing with individuals that infringe on its rights or do not comply with its regulations.
      • 2024 January 23, @tetsuo_88, Twitter[3]:
        I had TOTK running on my pc 2 weeks before it released on the switch and I'm still here. They can send the ninjas, I'm waiting.
      • 2024 March 5, @HikikomoriMedia, Twitter[4]:
        Nintendo ninjas were inside the discord, watching. Now all the Yuzu devs have turned over all electronic devices, websites, logs...
  3. (figurative) A person considered to look like the historical ninja in some way, including (historical slang) an amateur private miner in Mongolia.
    • 1998 December 28, Chicago Tribune, page 1:
      He immediately suspected they were ninjas because, he said, they were dressed in black and wore masks, trademarks of the mysterious assassins who have been sowing terror across East Java in recent months.
    • 2003 February 21, Business Times::
      Yen buyers were more subdued... fearing the Bank of Japan's new strategy of covert intervention to buy U.S. dollars through agent banks—described by some as the central bank's ninjas or secret agents.
    • 2007 October 10, Jonathan Watts, “Prospectors and 'Ninja' Miners Flood to East's El Dorado”, in The Guardian:
      Many were former nomads, but as the gold rush gathered pace, students, vets and taxi drivers from Ulan Bator joined the ninjas, not just in Ogoomor but in other gold towns across the country.
  4. (euphemistic, African-American Vernacular) Synonym of nigga as a friendly term of address.
    • 2003, Steven Ayromlooi, Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood, spoken by LEPRECHAUN:
      What's up, ninjas?
    • 2024, “BBL Drizzy”, King Willonius (lyrics):
      I'm thicker than a Snicker, I'm thicker than your ninja!
    1. (Juggalo slang) Synonym of man as a friendly term of address.
      What up, my ninja!
  5. (euphemistic, vulgar, derogatory, offensive, ethnic slur) nigger.

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adjective

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ninja (not comparable)

  1. Of or related to ninjas in their various senses.
    • 1966 October, Black Belt, page 5:
      The July 1966 issue had a cartoon concerning a Ninja dojo.
    • 1971 May, Black Belt, page 40:
      One of the most controversial characters in Japan's current ninja boom is a stout but surprisingly agile man in his mid-forties named Norihiro Iga-Hakuyusai.
    • 1995 August 28, Time, page 36:
      [] Federal agents in body armor and black ninja uniforms []
    • 2002 August 31, The Guardian, page 2:
      As they broke camp, the teenage son practised his Ninja moves with a tentpole.

Verb

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ninja (third-person singular simple present ninjas, present participle ninjaing, simple past and past participle ninjaed or ninja'd)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth.
    • 1992, Iain Banks, Crow Road, page 160:
      I leapt up, ninja'd over to Gav's bed and wheeched the duvet off.
    • 1996 April 23, Rocky Mountain News, page 5:
      In our dark house we were ninja-ing around with water guns.
    • 2002 August 29, Los Angeles Times, page 48:
      I ninja'd my way into Kung Fu Records to hang out with those merry pranksters the Vandals.
  2. (Internet slang) Synonym of preempt: to supersede and invalidate a response by posting immediately before it.
    When I hit post, I saw that Blue Emu had ninja'd me, so I just deleted my reply.
  3. (online gaming slang) To claim an item through abuse of game mechanics.
    That damn warrior ninja'd an epic-quality wand even though he can't even use it!

References

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Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Japanese 忍者.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ninja c (singular definite ninjaen, plural indefinite ninjaer)

  1. ninja
    • 2016, Kristoffer Jacob Andersen, Lord Kenshus forbandelse, Tellerup A/S, →ISBN:
      Ninjaer er blot simple spioner.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2014, Lise Bidstrup, Shinobi #5: Ninja-genfærd, Tellerup A/S, →ISBN:
      Disse ninjaer var uhyggelige, tågeagtige skikkelser.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2016, Anders Matthesen, Ternet Ninja, Rosinante & Co, →ISBN:
      Aske kunne se syningerne i ninjaens dragt.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2002, Kejserens atlas, Gyldendal A/S, →ISBN, page 184:
      „Nattergalegulvet", der sladrede om ninjaens trin, blev et kuriosum.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

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References

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Finnish

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Etymology

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From Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈninjɑ/, [ˈninjɑ̝]
  • Rhymes: -injɑ
  • Hyphenation(key): nin‧ja

Noun

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ninja

  1. ninja

Declension

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Inflection of ninja (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
nominative ninja ninjat
genitive ninjan ninjojen
partitive ninjaa ninjoja
illative ninjaan ninjoihin
singular plural
nominative ninja ninjat
accusative nom. ninja ninjat
gen. ninjan
genitive ninjan ninjojen
ninjain rare
partitive ninjaa ninjoja
inessive ninjassa ninjoissa
elative ninjasta ninjoista
illative ninjaan ninjoihin
adessive ninjalla ninjoilla
ablative ninjalta ninjoilta
allative ninjalle ninjoille
essive ninjana ninjoina
translative ninjaksi ninjoiksi
abessive ninjatta ninjoitta
instructive ninjoin
comitative See the possessive forms below.
Possessive forms of ninja (Kotus type 9/kala, no gradation)
first-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative ninjani ninjani
accusative nom. ninjani ninjani
gen. ninjani
genitive ninjani ninjojeni
ninjaini rare
partitive ninjaani ninjojani
inessive ninjassani ninjoissani
elative ninjastani ninjoistani
illative ninjaani ninjoihini
adessive ninjallani ninjoillani
ablative ninjaltani ninjoiltani
allative ninjalleni ninjoilleni
essive ninjanani ninjoinani
translative ninjakseni ninjoikseni
abessive ninjattani ninjoittani
instructive
comitative ninjoineni
second-person singular possessor
singular plural
nominative ninjasi ninjasi
accusative nom. ninjasi ninjasi
gen. ninjasi
genitive ninjasi ninjojesi
ninjaisi rare
partitive ninjaasi ninjojasi
inessive ninjassasi ninjoissasi
elative ninjastasi ninjoistasi
illative ninjaasi ninjoihisi
adessive ninjallasi ninjoillasi
ablative ninjaltasi ninjoiltasi
allative ninjallesi ninjoillesi
essive ninjanasi ninjoinasi
translative ninjaksesi ninjoiksesi
abessive ninjattasi ninjoittasi
instructive
comitative ninjoinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative ninjamme ninjamme
accusative nom. ninjamme ninjamme
gen. ninjamme
genitive ninjamme ninjojemme
ninjaimme rare
partitive ninjaamme ninjojamme
inessive ninjassamme ninjoissamme
elative ninjastamme ninjoistamme
illative ninjaamme ninjoihimme
adessive ninjallamme ninjoillamme
ablative ninjaltamme ninjoiltamme
allative ninjallemme ninjoillemme
essive ninjanamme ninjoinamme
translative ninjaksemme ninjoiksemme
abessive ninjattamme ninjoittamme
instructive
comitative ninjoinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular plural
nominative ninjanne ninjanne
accusative nom. ninjanne ninjanne
gen. ninjanne
genitive ninjanne ninjojenne
ninjainne rare
partitive ninjaanne ninjojanne
inessive ninjassanne ninjoissanne
elative ninjastanne ninjoistanne
illative ninjaanne ninjoihinne
adessive ninjallanne ninjoillanne
ablative ninjaltanne ninjoiltanne
allative ninjallenne ninjoillenne
essive ninjananne ninjoinanne
translative ninjaksenne ninjoiksenne
abessive ninjattanne ninjoittanne
instructive
comitative ninjoinenne

Further reading

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ninja (first-person possessive ninjaku, second-person possessive ninjamu, third-person possessive ninjanya)

  1. (historical) ninja, a person trained in ninjutsu, especially one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period.
  2. unidentified assassin with black clothes and mask

Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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From Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ninja m (invariable)

  1. (historical) ninja

Japanese

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Romanization

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ninja

  1. Rōmaji transcription of にんじゃ

Coordinate terms

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl
ninja

Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English ninja.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ninja m pers (indeclinable)[1]

  1. (espionage, historical, martial arts) ninja (person trained in ninjutsu, especially one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period)
    Coordinate term: ninjutsu

Declension

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or

Indeclinable.

References

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  1. ^ Maciej Malinowski (27.05.2012) Poradnia Językowa PWN [Language clinic PWN]‎[1], Polish Scientific Publishers PWN

Further reading

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  • ninja in Polish dictionaries at PWN
  • ninja in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

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  • Rhymes: -ĩʒɐ
  • Hyphenation: nin‧ja

Noun

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ninja m or f by sense (plural ninjas)

  1. (historical, martial arts) ninja (Japanese fighter trained in the art of ninjutsu for activities such as espionage, sabotage or assassination)

Further reading

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Spanish

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈninʝa/ [ˈnĩɲ.ɟ͡ʝa]
  • IPA(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /ˈninʃa/ [ˈnĩnʲ.ʃa]
  • IPA(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /ˈninʒa/ [ˈnĩnʲ.ʒa]

  • Rhymes: -inʝa
  • Syllabification: nin‧ja

Noun

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ninja m or f by sense (plural ninjas)

  1. (martial arts, historical) ninja (person trained in stealth, espionage, assassination and ninjutsu)

Further reading

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Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
en ninja som drar sin katana [a ninja drawing his katana]

Etymology

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Borrowed from Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Noun

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ninja c

  1. a ninja
    Ninjor är mästare på att röra sig osynligt i skuggorna
    Ninjas are masters of moving invisibly in the shadows

Declension

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See also

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References

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Turkish

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Etymology

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From French ninja, from Japanese 忍者 (ninja).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ninja (definite accusative ninjayı, plural ninjalar)

  1. ninja

Declension

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Inflection
Nominative ninja
Definite accusative ninjayı
Singular Plural
Nominative ninja ninjalar
Definite accusative ninjayı ninjaları
Dative ninjaya ninjalara
Locative ninjada ninjalarda
Ablative ninjadan ninjalardan
Genitive ninjanın ninjaların
Predicative forms
Singular Plural
1st singular ninjayım ninjalarım
2nd singular ninjasın ninjalarsın
3rd singular ninja
ninjadır
ninjalar
ninjalardır
1st plural ninjayız ninjalarız
2nd plural ninjasınız ninjalarsınız
3rd plural ninjalar ninjalardır