hanko

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han·ko

(häng′kō)

n. pl. hanko or han·kos

A Japanese stamp made of wood, stone, or horn, engraved with the name of an individual, office, or institution and used instead of a signature in official transactions.

[Japanese hanko, probably alteration (taken as if han, seal, stamp + ko, child, also a noun-forming suff.) of earlier hankō, publication, printing : Japanese han, board, block such as those used in woodblock printing (from Middle Chinese pa⋮n´; also the source of Mandarin bàn) + Japanese kō, to go, circulate (from Middle Chinese xɦja⋮jŋ, also the source of Mandarin xíng).]

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