カツ

Katsu is a shortened form that outlived its source. The parent term katsuretsu entered Japanese in the late 19th century from English cutlet through continental culinary contact. Speakers clipped it to katsu in everyday speech. Brevity won.

By the Taisho and early Showa eras, pork katsu became urban yoshoku staple food. Breadcrumb frying and sauce pairing localized the dish beyond its European origin. The short word fit menu boards and casual speech rhythms. Linguistic clipping matched culinary adaptation.

After 1945, school cafeterias, chain diners, and department-store restaurants spread katsu nationwide. In the late 20th century, curry katsu and sandwich katsu variants multiplied. English-language menus then borrowed katsu directly, often leaving cutlet behind. The descendant replaced the ancestor in many contexts.

Now katsu is a productive international morpheme: chicken katsu, tofu katsu, even plant-based katsu. The word signals texture and method more than species. A clipped borrowing became globally generative. Short words travel fast.