kung-fu

the english term "kung-fu" is a romanization of the cantonese pronunciation of the mandarin word "gōngfu". in chinese, "gōngfu" is a compound meaning "skill achieved through hard work and time", from "gōng" (work, merit) and "fu" (man, master). it entered english in the mid-20th century, popularized by films and media, with its meaning narrowing specifically to refer to chinese martial arts. the term exemplifies a loanword where the original compound structure is opaque to most english speakers, who perceive it as a single, unified concept.

this is a loanword from chinese, specifically from the mandarin term "gōngfu" (功夫). the term is a compound in its source language, but in english it is treated as an unsegmentable simplex word.