Japanese word

人工

Pronunciation

Romajijinkō

Meaning

  • nounartificial

Example

これは人工の湖です。ko re wa jin kō no mizuumi de su

This is an artificial lake.

Illustration for 人工 (artificial)

More examples

この公園には人工の滝があります。ko no kō en ni wa jin kō no taki ga a ri ma su

There is an artificial waterfall in this park.

Core concept

Describes something made or brought about by human skill rather than occurring naturally.

Common phrases

  • 人工知能jin kō chi nō

    artificial intelligence

  • 人工衛星jin kō ei sei

    artificial satellite

  • 人工心臓jin kō shin zō

    artificial heart

  • 人工呼吸jin kō ko kyū

    artificial respiration

  • 人工甘味料jin kō kan mi ryō

    artificial sweetener

Similar words

人造jinzō: Describes something made by people rather than formed in nature.

Definition in Japanese

自然に生じたものではなく、人の手で作り出すこと。また、人の手で作られたもの。shi zen ni shō ji ta mo no de wa na ku hito no te de tsuku ri da su ko to ma ta hito no te de tsuku ra re ta mo no

Word origin

As a Sino-Japanese compound, 人工 (jinkō) combines 人 (jin, "person") and 工 (kō, "craft"), expressing what human work produces.

Usage tips

  • In Japanese, 人工 (jinkō) often comes before a noun in compounds such as 人工湖 (jinkōko), while English usually uses artificial as an adjective in the same position.

Other meanings

  • artificialitynoun

Opposites

Related words

  • 人工的jinkōtekiartificialna-adjective
  • 人工性jinkōseiartificialitynoun

Word lists with this word