Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

zaibatsu

/zaɪˈbɑtsu/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.07 in modern English

Syllables: za-ibat-su
IPA: /zaɪˈbɑtsu/

19

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A large business conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan, generally controlled by a single family or individual.

noun

Any large corporation.

American usage

Example Sentences

"He wondered briefly what it would be like, working all your life for one zaibatsu. Company housing, company hymn, company funeral."
"At other points, the film suggests the motive is financial, depicting the Kobayashi clan as staging an industrial coup of sorts, like a quirky Andersonian take on the zaibatsu (a term for the family-controlled business monopolies that dominated Japan until the end of World War II)."
"Near-synonyms: megacorporation, supercorporation"

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 財閥(ざいばつ) (zaibatsu), coined from Middle Chinese 財 (d͡zoj, “wealth”) + 閥 (bjot, “powerful family”).

Word Breakdown

Root: 財

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /zaɪˈbɑtsu/
British English: /zaɪˈbætsuː/

Usage

American usage

Inflected Forms

zaibatsus (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

chaebol keiretsu

Synonyms

megacorporation supercorporation

Questions

How do you pronounce zaibatsu?: The recorded pronunciation is /zaɪˈbɑtsu/.
What does zaibatsu mean?: A large business conglomerate founded under the Empire of Japan, generally controlled by a single family or individual.
Where does zaibatsu come from?: Borrowed from Japanese 財閥(ざいばつ) (zaibatsu), coined from Middle Chinese 財 (d͡zoj, “wealth”) + 閥 (bjot, “powerful family”).

How to pronounce zaibatsu

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