Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of the standardized emoticons used in Japanese text messaging.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese 絵文字 emoji (emoji, emoticon), from e (picture) + 文字 moji (character)

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Examples

  • Most of the time it is the built-in emoji graphical icons.

    Emoji Dick, a new genre graphic novel 2009

  • And of course, they have a full range of cartoony emoticons, called emoji, if you're into that.

    NYT > Home Page By KATE MURPHY 2011

  • And of course, they have a full range of cartoony emoticons, called emoji, if you're into that.

    The Seattle Times 2011

  • The number interested in smartphones is pretty low, but I suspect that they have an image of being foreign market-designed phones that feature few of the essential Japanese functions such as emoji, One-seg television, and smartcards.

    Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-05-31 2009

  • He said one small but must-have feature that is often cited as a deficiency in the iPhone is the lack of "emoji," clip art that can be inserted in sentences to jazz up emails.

    Apple's Latest iPhone 2008

  • Another barrier to adoption is that the iPhone lacks features that are familiar to Japanese consumers, such "emoji," a form of clip art that can be inserted in sentences to spruce up email messages.

    AppleInsider 2008

  • Another barrier to adoption is that the iPhone lacks features that are familiar to Japanese consumers, such "emoji," a form of clip art that can be inserted in sentences to spruce up email messages.

    AppleInsider 2008

  • Another barrier to adoption is that the iPhone lacks features that are familiar to Japanese consumers, such "emoji," a form of clip art that can be inserted in sentences to spruce up email messages.

    AppleInsider 2008

  • Another barrier to adoption is that the iPhone lacks features that are familiar to Japanese consumers, such "emoji," a form of clip art that can be inserted in sentences to spruce up email messages.

    AppleInsider 2008

  • It also has basically zero standard Japanese phone features: no One Seg, no Felica, no iMode, no emoji, etc, etc.

    Japanese awareness of iPhone low, but curiousity high 2009

Comments

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  • “Emoji (絵文字 ?) is the Japanese term for the picture characters or emoticons used in Japanese wireless messages and webpages. Originally meaning pictograph, the word literally means e "picture" + moji "letter". The characters are used much like emoticons elsewhere, but a wider range is provided, and the icons are standardized and built into the handsets.�?

    Wikipedia

    March 9, 2009

  • Cf. henohenomoheji, the first emoticons. (Or not?)

    March 9, 2009

  • was 'moji' chosen instead of another possible word for 'letter' in order to include 'emo' in the word and connect it to the English 'emoticon', or is it some kind of Internet Predestination?

    May 4, 2009

  • I'm not sure the above etymology is correct. I always thought it was a Japanglish portmanteau of the emo from emoticon and -ji (meaning “characters”) on the model of the etymologies of romaji and kanjiquod vide.

    April 24, 2014

  • NPR's science friday has a 17 minute episode on how emoji's are used in language.

    http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/05/15/2015/emoting-with-emoji.html

    May 24, 2015