Etymology

As a type of animation, anime is an art form that comprises many genres found in other mediums; it is sometimes mistakenly classified as a genre itself. [5] In Japanese, the term anime is used to
refer to all animated works, regardless of style or origin.[6] English-language dictionaries typically define anime (US: /ˈænəmeɪ/, UK: /ˈænɪmeɪ/)[7] as "a style of Japanese animation"[8] or as "a style
of animation originating in Japan".[9] Other definitions are based on origin, making production in Japan a requisite for a work to be considered "anime". [1]

The etymology of the term anime is disputed. The English word "animation" is written in Japanese katakana as アニメーション (animēshon) and as アニメ (anime, pronounced [a.ɲi.me] (
listen)) in its shortened form.[1] Some sources claim that the term is derived from the French term for animation dessin animé ("cartoon", literally 'animated design'), [10] but others believe this to be
a myth derived from the popularity of anime in France in the late 1970s and 1980s.[1]

In English, anime—when used as a common noun—normally functions as a mass noun. (For example: "Do you watch anime?" or "How much anime have you collected?") [11] As with a few other
Japanese words, such as saké and Pokémon, English texts sometimes spell anime as animé (as in French), with an acute accent over the final e, to cue the reader to pronounce the letter, not
to leave it silent as English orthography may suggest. Prior to the widespread use of anime, the term Japanimation was prevalent throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In the mid-1980s, the
term anime began to supplant Japanimation;[12] in general, the latter term now only appears in period works where it is used to distinguish and identify Japanese animation. [13]