Famicom

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese ファミコン (famikon), a syllabic abbreviation of ファミリーコンピューター (famirīkonpyūtā), a wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism), derived from family +‎ computer.

Noun

Famicom (plural Famicoms)

1. A Nintendo Entertainment System (chiefly those available within Japan).
   • 1988, Shoji Shiba, Yuusuke Moryiama, Shigeki Yamasaki, Masanobu Abe, S. Nakae, M. Hasimoto, K. Tuno, Y. Fukuda, M. Taki, ““Which has the Most Powerful Influence on Children: Computer Literacy, School or Home?””, in Blagovest Sendov, Ivan Stanchev, editors, Children in the Information Age: Opportunities for Creativity, Innovation and New Activities, Pergamon Press, →ISBN, page 57:

     School students as well as middle-aged salaried workers queued up to buy one of these Famicoms.

   • 2022, Alyse Knorr, GoldenEye 007:

     After a trip to Tokyo at the end of 1983, a business partner of the Stampers had sent them a Nintendo Famicom […]

Derived terms

• Famiclone