kung fu

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word kung fu. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word kung fu, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say kung fu in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word kung fu you have here. The definition of the word kung fu will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofkung fu, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: kungfu and kung-fu

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From the Wade–Giles romanization of Mandarin 功夫 (gōngfu, skill, accomplishment, martial art): kung1-fu5.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkʌŋ ˈfuː/
    • Audio (US):(file)
  • (rare) IPA(key): /ˈkʊŋ ˈfuː/
  • (rare, emulating Cantonese) IPA(key): /ˈkɔŋ ˈfuː/
  • Rhymes: -uː

Noun

kung fu (countable and uncountable, plural kung fu)

  1. (countable) A Chinese martial art.
    Synonym: wushu
    • 1974, Carl Douglas (lyrics and music), “Kung Fu Fighting”, performed by Carl Douglas:
      Everybody was kung-fu fighting / Those kicks were fast as lightning
  2. (martial arts) The Chinese martial arts collectively.
    Synonym: wushu
  3. (slang) A mastery of or expertise in a skill
    1. (slang, computing) A mastery of or expertise in computer programming, hacking, or cracking

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

kung fu (third-person singular simple present kung fus, present participle kung fuing, simple past and past participle kung fued)

  1. To perform kung fu

Further reading

Portuguese

Noun

kung fu m (uncountable)

  1. kung fu (Chinese martial art)

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Noun

kung fu

  1. kung fu (Chinese martial art)
    Jag kan kung fu
    I know kung fu
    en kung fu-film
    a kung fu movie
    en kung fu-mästare
    a kung fu master

Derived terms

References

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English kung fu, from the Wade–Giles romanization (kung1-fu5) of Mandarin 功夫 (gōngfu, skill, accomplishment, martial art).

Pronunciation

Noun

kung fu (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜓᜅ᜔ ᜉᜓ) (martial arts)

  1. kung fu

Further reading

  • kung fu”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018