zaikai, n.

zaikai
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zaikai_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 1986; not fully revised

# zaikainoun

## Earlier version

- zaikai in OED Second Edition (1989)

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zaikai mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zaikai. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

#### Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

### How common is the noun zaikai?

About 0.02occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.026
1970 | 0.022
1980 | 0.019
1990 | 0.019
2000 | 0.022
2010 | 0.019

### How is the noun zaikai pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈzaikai/

### Where does the noun zaikai come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zaikai is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zaikai is from 1968, in the writing of C. Yanaga.

zaikai is a borrowing from Japanese.

### Nearby entries

1. zaffre | zaffer, n. 1662–
2. zaftig, adj. 1921–
3. zafu, n. 1965–
4. zag, n., adv., & v. 1793–
5. zagaie | zagaye, n. 1590–1698
6. Zaghlulist, n. & adj. 1921–
7. zaguan, n. 1851–
8. Zahal, n. 1959–
9. zaibatsu, n. 1937–
10. Zaidi, n. 1709–
11. zaikai, n.1968–
12. zaim, n. 1807–
13. zaire, n. 1967–
14. Zairean, n. & adj. 1972–
15. Zairese, adj. & n. 1974–
16. Zairois, n. & adj. 1973–
17. zaitech, n. 1986–
18. zakat, n. 1668–
19. Zakka Khel, n. 1860–
20. zakuska, n. 1885–
21. zalambdodont, adj. 1885–

## Etymology

### Summary

A borrowing from Japanese.
Japanese, < zai wealth + kai community.

## Meaning & use

1. 1968–
   In Japan: financial circles; the business world or power elite who control it.
   1. 1968

      > A new postwar term, zaikai,..practically supersedes zaibatsu... It is frequently interpreted..as a synonym for ‘business circles’, ‘financial circles’, and even ‘business community’. More inclusive than zaibatu, it is nevertheless restricted to big business... Zaikai also denotes the place where the craving for political power is openly expressed and gratified.

      C. Yanaga, Big Business in Japanese Politics ii. 32
   2. 1970

      > A Japanese economic magazine recently conducted a survey of opinion among leading representatives of the zaikai, the world of business and high finance.

      Times 19 August 5/2
   3. 1975

      > The men who make up this elite in Japan spend an extraordinary amount of time in so-called zaikai activities..that are not directly related to their own companies, but which seek to represent the interests of the business community as a whole.

      G. L. Curtis in E. F. Vogel, Modern Japanese Organization & Decision-Making 38
   4. 1981

      > The process of nemawashi operating in the senior levels of the zaikai world enable the companies to secure long-term goals.

      J. B. Kidd in P. G. O'Neill, Tradition & Modern Japan 50
   finance
   1. zaikai 1968–
      In Japan: financial circles; the business world or power elite who control it.
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈzaikai/

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

## Frequency

zaikai typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English.

zaikai is in frequency band 3, which contains words occurring between 0.01 and 0.1 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zaikai, n., 1960–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1960 | 0.026
1970 | 0.022
1980 | 0.019
1990 | 0.019
2000 | 0.022
2010 | 0.019

zaikai, n. was first published in 1986; not fully revised.

zaikai, n. was last modified in December 2024.