How do you pronounce onsen?

The recorded pronunciation is /ɒnˈsɛn/.

onsen

/ɒnˈsɛn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.36 in modern English

Syllables: on-sen
IPA: /ɒnˈsɛn/

Scrabble Score

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Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A (Japanese) hot spring.

noun

A Japanese-style resort hotel at a natural hot spring, offering on-site bathing.

Example Sentences

"The hottest springs in Japan aren't in the north but at the Obama Onsen outside Nagasaki."
"We stayed at a traditional onsen with tatami, yukata, and kaiseki at Onyang outside Seoul."

Etymology

From Japanese 温泉 (onsen), from Middle Chinese 溫泉 ('won dzjwen, “hot springs”), from 溫 /温 (wēn, “warm”) + 泉 (quán, “spring[s]”). Compare the modern Mandarin pronunciation 溫泉 /温泉 (wēnquán).

Origin

Source language: Japanese

Word Breakdown

Root: 温泉, 溫泉

Inflected Forms

onsens (plural)

Phrases

onsen tamago