karaoke

English

Karaoke in an Irish pub

Etymology

From Japanese カラオケ (karaoke), from 空 (から, kara, “empty”) + オケ (oke, “orchestra”), abbreviation of オーケストラ (ōkesutora), from English orchestra.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA: /ˈkæ.ɹiˌəʊ.ki/, /ˈkæ.ɹəˌəʊ.ki/, X-SAMPA: /"k{.ri%@U.ki/, /`"k{.r@.@U.ki/ (anglicized)
(US) IPA: /ˌkæ.ɹiˈoʊ.ki/
(emulating Japanese) IPA: /kɑːrɑːˌokeɪ/

Usage notes

Pronounced both emulating Japanese (pure [ɑː] vowels, terminal [e̞], approximated by [ɛ] or [eɪ], “eh”), and, more commonly, in anglicized form ([æ] diphthong, terminal [iː], “ee”). Compare pronunciation of end of karate, which has undergone the same sound change, and of bokeh, which has not, as reflected in the spelling.

Noun

karaoke (countable and uncountable; plural karaokes)

(uncountable) A form of entertainment popular in clubs, at parties, etc, in which individual members of the public sing along to pre-recorded instrumental versions of popular songs, the lyrics of which are displayed for the singer on a screen in time with the music.
- 1993 March, Michael J. Wagner; Brick, John S., “Using Karaoke in the Classroom”, Music Educators Journal, volume 79, number 7, ISSN 0027-4321, JSTOR 3398617, page 44:
  The karaoke has been well received by those who frequent the oriental cabaret scene and adopt its particular social behaviors such as conversation, companionship, being seen, and showing off.
- 2006 February 24, Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher season 7 episode 2:
  American Idol will always have a place in my heart. It's where I met Clay. And what could be more exciting than televised karaoke?
- 2008 December 9, Brian Raftery, Don't Stop Believin': How Karaoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life, Cambridge: Da Capo Press, ISBN 9780306815836, LCCN 2008034271, OCLC 191926214, OL 17073509M, page 1:
  I was always split on Henley. Then I found out that he doesn’t want people to sing his songs at karaoke. In fact, Henley actually forbids karaoke companies from rerecording songs in his catalog.
(countable) This word needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Related terms

karate

Derived terms

karaoke bar
karaoke club
karaoke machine

Translations

A form of entertainment

Arabic: كراوكي (ar) (karaoke) m, كاراوكه (ar) (karauukih) m
Armenian: կարաոկե (hy) (karaoke)
Belarusian: караоке (be) (karaóke) n
Bulgarian: караоке (bg) (karaóke) n
Catalan: karaoke (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 卡拉OK (cmn) (kǎlǎ'ōukēi, kǎlā'ōukèi)
Esperanto: karaoko (eo)
Finnish: karaoke (fi)
French: karaoke (fr) m
Georgian: კარაოკე (ka) (karaoke)
German: Karaoke (de) n
Greek: καραόκε (el) (karaóke)
Hebrew: קריוקי (he) (qaraoqe) m
Hindi: कराओके (hi) (karā'oke) m
Japanese: カラオケ (ja) (karaoke)

Korean: 노래방 (ko) (noraebang), 가라오케 (ko) (garaoke)
Kyrgyz: караоке (ky) (karaóke)
Lao: ກາຣາໂອເກະ (lo)
Macedonian: караоке (mk) (karaóke) n
Persian: کارائوکه (fa), کارائوکی (fa)
Portuguese: karaokê (pt)
Russian: караоке (ru) (karaóke) n
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: караоке (sh) n

Roman: karaoke (sh) n
Spanish: karaoke (es) m
Swedish: karaoke (sv) c
Thai: คาราโอเกะ (th) (karaoke)
Ukrainian: караоке (uk) (karaóke) n
Urdu: کراوکی (ur) (karā'oke) m
Vietnamese: caraôkê (vi), karaoke (vi)

Esperanto

Adverb

karaoke

in a karaoke manner
kanti karaoke
to sing karaoke
- 2004 July 9, Tani Hiroyuki, “Re: Asia esperanto”, soc.culture.esperanto, Usenet:
  Se vi ŝatas kanti karaoke, vi estas karaokulo.
  If you like to sing karaoke, you are a ‘karaoke-er’.
- 2005 May, Riitta Hämäläinen, “KEF post kvin jaroj refoje en Finnlando”, Esperanto en Danio, volume 12, number 2, Dana Esperanto-Asocio, ISSN 0909-6124:
  “La plej amuza programero estos verŝajne esperanta karaokeo kun la efektiva bando mem – se nur iu kuraĝos karaoke kanti “Ĉu vi pretas” kun Dolchamar”, ridetas Riitta.
  “The most fun event will be, it seems, Esperanto karaoke with the actual band itself – if only someone will have the courage to sing karaoke “Ĉu vi pretas?” with Dolchamar”, smiles Riitta.