yonsei means the fourth generation or great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants, particularly in North America and in Latin America. It carries an Arena rating of 1264, earned across 26 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, yonsei ranks #1,841 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #4,196 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #6,199 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,976 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
Why “yonsei” is a great word
The fourth generation of descendants of Japanese immigrants, especially in North and South America. From Japanese 四世 (yonsei), from 四 (yon-, "fourth") + 世 (sei, "generation"). Unlike issei, which names the original immigrants carrying the full cultural memory of the homeland, or gosei, which projects a lineage ever further into the future, yonsei occupies a specific middle distance. It is the soft vowel of a name mispronounced at a family reunion, the fading characters in a grandmother's diary, the ghost of a language heard but not spoken—a quiet measurement of time and assimilation, where identity becomes less an inheritance than a gentle, persistent question.
Etymology
From Japanese 四世 (よんせい (yonsei)), from 四 (yon-, “fourth”) + 世 (sei, “generation”).
noun
- The fourth generation or great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants, particularly in North America and in Latin America.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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