Word
Kana: せんにゅう Romaji: sennyuu Level: N1

潜入

Meaning in English

infiltration, sneaking in

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Word context

What it means

What does 潜入 mean? It denotes the act of secretly entering a place, often to observe, gather information, or operate undercover; used as a noun and as 潜入する (suru-verb).

Main meanings

  • Covert entry into a location for observation, intelligence gathering, or surveillance
  • The noun form for an infiltration operation in police, military, or investigative contexts
  • Figurative use to describe undercover access to a person or group's environment

How to use it

Used as a noun or as 潜入する to form a suru-verb; common in formal writing, journalism, law enforcement, espionage contexts, and works of fiction; frequent collocations include 潜入捜査 and 潜入取材, signaling covert entry, undercover investigation, or undercover reporting.

Variants and close terms

  • 侵入 shinnyū – intrusion, infiltration
  • 潜入捜査 sen'nyū sōsa – infiltration investigation
  • 潜入取材 sen'nyū shuzai – undercover reporting

Composition

  • 潜 - hide, dive
  • 入 - enter
  • Combined meaning describes entering covertly or while hidden

Etymology

sen from 潜 and nyū from 入; 潜入 (sen'nyū) is a compound formed using on'yomi readings; the pronunciation consolidates into sen'nyū, with no kun'yomi used here (潜入 sen'nyū).

Word class

Noun, suru-verb (潜入する)

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