Emoji — Lexography

Journey of meaning

2 forms

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絵文字 · Japanese
noun · Japanese
Reading: eh-moh-jee
Pictograph. A pictograph; also a digital picture character. Literally picture plus character.
1968 · cited pictograph — Reported written use; not the date of coinage or transmission.
Japanese reference region — Glottolog language reference point; not an origin, borrowing site or territorial boundary.
English emoji is borrowed from Japanese emoji, composed of e (picture) and moji (character). Merriam-Webster reports English use in 1997. Word History — Etymology; First Known Use
絵文字 is a noun meaning pictograph and, in a separate use, digital emoji. Its components are 絵 (e) and 文字 (moji); 繪文字 is an older spelling. Japanese — Etymology; Noun
The entry cites a 1968 work by Ōba Chiaki using 絵文字 for pictographs underlying ancient scripts. Japanese — Noun, pictograph sense, 1968 quotation
The Japanese reading is えもじ, romanized emoji, with IPA [e̞mo̞ʑi]. The entry lists Tokyo accent variants. Japanese — Pronunciation
Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for Japanese. LanguageTable row nucl1643
emoji · English
noun · English
Reading: ee-MOH-jee
Digital picture character. A small digital picture character used in electronic messages; sometimes an emoji-like inline image.
1997 · reported English — Reported written use; not the date of coinage or transmission.
English reference region / Britain — Glottolog language reference point; not an origin, borrowing site or territorial boundary.
English emoji is borrowed from Japanese emoji, composed of e (picture) and moji (character). Merriam-Webster reports English use in 1997. Word History — Etymology; First Known Use
English emoji can name an encoded digital picture character and, by extension, an emoji-like image embedded in text. English — Noun, senses 1 and 2
The English entry lists /iˈmoʊ.d͡ʒi/ as a General American variant. English — Pronunciation, General American
Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for English. LanguageTable row stan1293

Relationships

emoji → emoji: borrowing, documented. English borrows the Japanese word; resemblance to emotion is not its etymology. Selected digital use: Japanese also has a broader pictograph sense. This comparison does not prove narrowing at the borrowing event. Word History — Etymology; First Known Use

Inspect the evidence 8 claims

Open a claim to follow the source and our interpretation.

01English emoji is borrowed from Japanese emoji, composed of e (picture) and moji (character). Merriam-Webster reports English use in 1997.
Source
Merriam-Webster — emojiMerriam-WebsterWord History — Etymology; First Known Use
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
English emoji is borrowed from Japanese emoji, composed of e (picture) and moji (character). Merriam-Webster reports English use in 1997.
Word History — Etymology; First Known Use
Qualification Source-supported
The cited section supports this bounded lexical statement; it does not establish all uses or a borrowing date.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-13. Linked source retains its copyright. Original factual paraphrases only; no full article redistributed.
02絵文字 is a noun meaning pictograph and, in a separate use, digital emoji. Its components are 絵 (e) and 文字 (moji); 繪文字 is an older spelling.
Source
Wiktionary — 絵文字Wiktionary contributorsJapanese — Etymology; Noun
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
絵文字 is a noun meaning pictograph and, in a separate use, digital emoji. Its components are 絵 (e) and 文字 (moji); 繪文字 is an older spelling.
Japanese — Etymology; Noun
Qualification Source-supported
The cited section supports this bounded lexical statement; it does not establish all uses or a borrowing date.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-13 · revision 92509021. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; pinned revision, attributed original summaries. Selected research sections retained with revision metadata.
03The entry cites a 1968 work by Ōba Chiaki using 絵文字 for pictographs underlying ancient scripts.
Source
Wiktionary — 絵文字Wiktionary contributorsJapanese — Noun, pictograph sense, 1968 quotation
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
The entry cites a 1968 work by Ōba Chiaki using 絵文字 for pictographs underlying ancient scripts.
Japanese — Noun, pictograph sense, 1968 quotation
Qualification Qualified
An example reported by Wiktionary; the cited book was not independently inspected and this is not the first use of the Japanese word.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-13 · revision 92509021. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; pinned revision, attributed original summaries. Selected research sections retained with revision metadata.
04The Japanese reading is えもじ, romanized emoji, with IPA [e̞mo̞ʑi]. The entry lists Tokyo accent variants.
Source
Wiktionary — 絵文字Wiktionary contributorsJapanese — Pronunciation
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
The Japanese reading is えもじ, romanized emoji, with IPA [e̞mo̞ʑi]. The entry lists Tokyo accent variants.
Japanese — Pronunciation
Qualification Source-supported
The cited section supports this bounded lexical statement; it does not establish all uses or a borrowing date.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-13 · revision 92509021. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; pinned revision, attributed original summaries. Selected research sections retained with revision metadata.
05English emoji can name an encoded digital picture character and, by extension, an emoji-like image embedded in text.
Source
Wiktionary — emojiWiktionary contributorsEnglish — Noun, senses 1 and 2
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
English emoji can name an encoded digital picture character and, by extension, an emoji-like image embedded in text.
English — Noun, senses 1 and 2
Qualification Qualified
The extension is listed without a dated usage example; it is a selectable use, not a precisely dated semantic edge.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-13 · revision 92414087. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; pinned revision, attributed original summaries. Selected research sections retained with revision metadata.
06The English entry lists /iˈmoʊ.d͡ʒi/ as a General American variant.
Source
Wiktionary — emojiWiktionary contributorsEnglish — Pronunciation, General American
Source passage
Source summary · not a quotation
The English entry lists /iˈmoʊ.d͡ʒi/ as a General American variant.
English — Pronunciation, General American
Qualification Source-supported
The cited section supports this bounded lexical statement; it does not establish all uses or a borrowing date.
What Lexography infers
Lexography selects this account for the named form or sense; wording and presentation are editorial.
Checked 2026-09-13 · revision 92414087. Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0 / GFDL; pinned revision, attributed original summaries. Selected research sections retained with revision metadata.
07Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for Japanese.
Source
Glottolog 5.3 — language reference coordinatesHammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath & Bank; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLanguageTable row nucl1643
Source passage
Reference record
nucl1643 · Japanese · Latitude 35.0 · Longitude 135.0
LanguageTable row nucl1643; Name, Latitude, Longitude
Qualification Reference only
Language reference coordinates, not a word origin, borrowing site, historical territory or population distribution.
What Lexography infers
Use this point only to orient Japanese reference region; no historical movement is inferred from it.
Checked 2026-09-11 · revision 072ca0d0410039fb8b779be8fc165bac575d2cda. CC BY 4.0; selected coordinates, rounded for regional orientation
08Glottolog supplies the reference coordinates for English.
Source
Glottolog 5.3 — language reference coordinatesHammarström, Forkel, Haspelmath & Bank; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyLanguageTable row stan1293
Source passage
Reference record
stan1293 · English · Latitude 53.0 · Longitude -1.0
LanguageTable row stan1293; Name, Latitude, Longitude
Qualification Reference only
Language reference coordinates, not a word origin, borrowing site, historical territory or population distribution.
What Lexography infers
Use this point only to orient English reference region / Britain; no historical movement is inferred from it.
Checked 2026-09-11 · revision 072ca0d0410039fb8b779be8fc165bac575d2cda. CC BY 4.0; selected coordinates, rounded for regional orientation