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sen·sei

(sĕnsā′, sĕn-sā)

n. pl. sen·seis

1. A teacher or mentor, especially of a martial art.

2. Used as a form of address for such a person.

[Japanese, teacher, master, from Middle Chinese sianʂaːjŋ, elder, prior-born (term of respect) (also the source of Mandarin xiānsheng) : sian, first + ʂaːjŋ, to give birth, be born (ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sriŋ, live, life; also the source of Burmese hrang, live, alive).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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