karaoke: [20] The conceptual basis of this term, enthusiastically adopted in the West from Japan in the latter part of the 20th century, is of a backing or accompaniment waiting to be ‘filled’ by a singer or other soloist. In Japanese, it means literally ‘empty orchestra’: kara is ‘empty’ (it also appears in English karate [20], literally ‘empty hand’) and oke is short for okesutora – originally a Japanization of English orchestra. [karaoke etymology, karaoke origin, 英语词源]