jinja
noun, proper noun
Forms jinjas
- noun (religion) A Shinto place of worship.
- proper noun A city and district at the north end of Lake Victoria, Uganda.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 神社 (じんじゃ, jinja), from Middle Chinese 神社, from Old Chinese 神社 (“sacrificial altar, shrine”), from 神 (*hlin, “deity, divine”) + 社 (*ɦljaːʔ, “Earth deity [and altar]”). Cognate with Mandarin 神社 (shénshè, “shrine”).
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “jinja”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details