美式橄欖球 / 美式橄榄球
měishìgǎnlǎnqiú
American football in Chinese is 美式橄欖球 / 美式橄榄球 (měishìgǎnlǎnqiú). If unsure, use 美式橄欖球 / 美式橄榄球. Wiktionary also lists 美式足球 (Měishì zúqiú).
Meaning: American football (noun)
Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 美式橄欖球 / 美式橄榄球 | měishìgǎnlǎnqiú | |
| 美式足球 | Měishì zúqiú | Taiwan |
The term refers to the sport of American football. Because the word 足球 (zúqiú) alone refers to soccer, you must include the modifier for 'American-style' to distinguish the two sports.
What does it mean word for word?
The term breaks down into 美式 (měishì), which means 'American-style'.
Which one should you use?
In Taiwan, the term 美式足球 is commonly used.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Cantonese dialect spoken in Guangdong Province, the informal way to say American football is 美式欖球.
How do you pronounce it?
měishìgǎnlǎnqiú
Did you know?
- The word 橄欖球 literally means 'olive ball', describing the oval shape of the ball. This mirrors the English word 'pigskin' in that it focuses on the physical object rather than the game's rules.
- In mainland China, 橄欖球 can refer to both American football and rugby. To avoid confusion, sports fans often use 美式 specifically for the NFL style and 英式 for the British style.
- In Chinese, the term for 'American-style' 美式 is used for everything from coffee to architecture. Using it for football follows a linguistic pattern of 'categorizing' Western imports by their country of origin.
Example sentences for Chinese are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “american football” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
