hwatu

Borrowed from Korean 화투 (hwatu), a Sino-Korean word from 花 (“flower”) + 鬪 (“fight”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈfwɑːtu/, /ˈhwɑːtu/, /ˈwɑːtu/
• Rhymes: -ɑːtu

hwatu (usually uncountable, plural hwatu)

1. (card games, hanafuda) Hanafuda playing cards, especially hard plastic cards in a Korean style.
   • 1979, Peter Hyun, editor, Introducing Korea: Historical Legacy, Acts of Creation, Way of Life, Food and Games, Discovering Korea, Jungwoo-sa, page 136:

     One of the most visible Korean amusements, on the other hand, is hwatu, or playing cards.

   • 2006, Ju Brown, John Brown, “Chapter Five: Points of Interest”, in China, Japan, Korea: Culture and Customs, BookSurge, →ISBN, page 171:

     The most popular pastime game in Korea is called Hwatu. People play hwatu cards almost anywhere there is a gathering.

   • 2012, Matthew Waterhouse, “Everything but the kitchen sink”, in Konglish: The ultimate survival guide for teaching English in South Korea, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 281:

     The deck or Hwatu, is divided into twelve suits with four cards per suit. Each suit is decorated with a different flower or tree.

   • 2021, Michelle Zauner, “Double Lid” (chapter 3), in Crying in H Mart, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN, page 29:

     Halmoni loved to smoke, drink, and gamble, and especially loved partaking in all three around a deck of hwatu. Hwatu are small hard plastic cards roughly the size of a matchbook. The backs are a solid, brilliant red, and the faces are decorated with colorful illustrations of animals, flowers, and leaves.

2. (card games, hanafuda) Any game played using those cards, most commonly go-stop.
   • 2002, In-hun Ch'oe, translated by Shi Chung Park Moore, Stephen Moore, Reflections on a Mask, Homa & Sekey Books, →ISBN, “Christmas Carol”, chapter 1, page 134:

     Mother came and the four of us sat in a circle and played hwatu.

   • 2015, Anthony Horowitz, “ ‘Pick a Card...’ ” (chapter 10), in Trigger Mortis: A James Bond Novel, Orion, →ISBN:

     In Korea we used to play Hwatu, which means, literally, “the battle of the flowers”, but there were also other games such as Koi-Koi and Go-Stop.

   • 2020, David Choi, “Thinking about stealing $20.”, in The Autobiography of a 25-year-old: From Prison to Seoul National University, David Choi Publishing Company, →ISBN:

     We played billiards during the daytime, and at night, he suggested me to play Hwatu (Korean poker).

   • 2024, Elaine U. Cho, Ocean's Godori, Zando, →ISBN:

     "Have you ever played hwatu?" she asks as she deals their cards.

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hwatu (“warning”), from Proto-Germanic *hwatō (“incitement”); compare Old Norse hvǫt.

• IPA^(key): /ˈxwɑ.tu/, [ˈʍɑ.tu]

hwatu f

1. omen, augury
2. divination

• hwata

• Middle English: whate, ȝwate, quate, qwate, wate, what, hwate (Early Middle English)

• Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, editors (2018), “hwatu”, in Dictionary of Old English: A to Le ⁠, Toronto: University of Toronto, →OCLC.