taekwondoEnglishOxford New American Dictionarytaekwondo /ˌtīˌkwänˈdō, ˌtaɪˌkwɑnˈdoʊ / (also tae kwon do) ▸ noun a modern Korean martial art similar to karate. – ORIGIN Korean, literally ‘art of hand and foot fighting’, from tae ‘kick’ + kwon ‘fist’ + do ‘art, method’.