What does "ninja" mean in English?

gdebes1

The short answer is "one skilled in the art of stealth". The full etymology can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja : "Ninja is the on'yomi reading of the two kanji ÈÌÕß used to write shinobi-no-mono (È̤ÎÕß), and Oniwaban (¤ªÍ¥·¬) both of which are native Japanese words for people who practice ninjutsu (sometimes transliterated as ninjitsu ÈÌÐg). Ninja and shinobi-no-mono, along with shinobi, another variant, became popular in the post-World War II culture. The term Ö¾ÄÜ‚ä, has been traced as far back as Japan's Asuka period (538-710 AD), when Prince Shotoku is alleged to have employed one of his retainers as a ninja.[citation needed] The underlying connotation of shinobi (ÈÌ, in Sino-Japanese means "to steal away" and¡ªby extension¡ª"to forebear," hence its association with stealth and invisibility. Mono (Õß, likewise pronounced sha or ja) means "thing" and/or "person." The nin of ninjutsu is the same as that in ninja, whereas jutsu (Ðg) means skill or art, so ninjutsu means "the skill of going unperceived" or "the art of stealth"; hence, ninja and shinobi-no-mono (as well as shinobi) may be translated as "one skilled in the art of stealth." Similarly, the pre-war word ninjutsu-zukai means "one who uses the art of remaining unperceived." " May 27 07, 10:00 AM

gdebes1

My apologies, the Japanese kanji characters in the text passage seem to have been translated into random ASCII gibberish when posted to the website. May 27 07, 10:04 AM

xo_cinnabon

Here is another definition: a member of a feudal Japanese society of mercenary agents, highly trained in martial arts and stealth (ninjutsu), who were hired for covert purposes ranging from espionage to sabotage and assassination. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ninja May 27 07, 12:12 PM