What does "taekwondo" mean?

A martial arts form from Korea, known for its elaborate kicking techniques. The sparring aspect is a recognised Olympic sport.

What is a synonym for "taekwondo"?

Common synonyms include: tae kwon do, tae kwon do, tkd.

Pronounced //ˌtaɪkwɑnˈdoʊ//.

//ˌtaɪkwɑnˈdoʊ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A martial arts form from Korea, known for its elaborate kicking techniques. The sparring aspect is a recognised Olympic sport. uncountable
"Khudadadi, originally from Afghanistan but now living and training in France, won bronze in the taekwondo women’s K44 -47kg category in Paris."
2
a Korean martial art similar to karate wordnet

"Tom has a black belt in Taekwondo."

Borrowed from Korean 태권도(跆拳道) (taegwondo).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.