•A martial arts instructor. Sensei of martial arts usually live and/or work at a dojo where they instruct their apprentices. A live-in apprentice is also called uchi-deshi.
•A Japanese (language) teacher.
•A suffix attached to the name of a teacher (principally in translations from Japanese)
Borrowed from Japanese 先生(せんせい) (sensei, “teacher; elder”), from Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen sraeng, “master, elder”), from 先 (MC sen, “earlier, first”) + 生 (MC sraeng, “born”). Compare modern Mandarin 先生 (xiānshēng, “Mr.”). Doublet of sinseh, from Hokkien 先生 (sin-seⁿ).