Sensei

Sensei in Japanese

Sensei (先生) is the Japanese term for "master", "teacher" or "doctor". It can be used to refer to any authority figure, such as schoolteacher, professor, priest, lawyer, or politician.

Sensei of martial arts usually live and/or work at a dojo, where they teach their skills to their apprentices.

In Sanbo Kyodan related Zen schools, sensei is normally used to refer to ordained teachers below the rank of roshi. However, other Zen Buddhists use the term for any priest regardless of seniority.

See also: O-sensei

Xiansheng in Chinese

The Japanese expression sensei derives from the Chinese word Xiansheng, which is written with the same characters. Xiansheng is a courtesy title for a man of respected stature; its English equivalent is gentleman. It can also be attached to a man's name to mean "Mr." Prior to the development of the modern vernacular, Xiansheng was used to address teachers of both male and female sexes; however, this has fallen out of widespread usage.

In both Japanese and Chinese, it literally translates into "one who was born prior".