パチンコ

Appears from the Taishō period in the early 1900s.

Compound of ぱちん (pachin, onomatopoeia for a small hard thing striking something else; compare English kaching) +‎ 子 (-ko, suffix used to form nouns, often diminutive).

A pinball-like children's game was first called ガチャンコ (gachanko) of similar derivation, with this more gambling-oriented machine becoming popular from around 1947.[1]

• (Tokyo) パチンコ [pàchíńkó] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [pa̠t͡ɕĩŋko̞]

パチンコ • (pachinko) 

1. a form of vertical pinball used for gambling, sometimes found in arcades
2. a slingshot, stonebow
3. (slang) a pistol

The slingshot sense may be more commonly spelled in hiragana, as ぱちんこ.

• パチンコ台(だい) (pachinkodai, “pachinko machine”)
• パチンコ屋(や) (pachinko-ya, “pachinko parlor”)

• → Chinese: 柏青哥 (bóqīnggē)
• → English: pachinko