Emoji (/ɪˈmoʊdʒi/; singular emoji, plural emoji or emojis; from the Japanese 絵文字えもじ, pronounced [emodʑi]) are ideograms and smileys used in electronic messages and web pages. Emoji are used much like emoticons and exist in various genres, including facial expressions, common objects, places and types of weather, and animals. Originally meaning pictograph, the word emoji comes from Japanese e (絵, "picture") + moji (文字, "character"). Either by coincidence or as a cross-language play on words, the term "emoji" also bears resemblance to the English words emotion and emoticon.
Originating on Japanese mobile phones in the late 1990s, emoji have become increasingly popular worldwide since their international inclusion in Apple's iPhone in 2011, which was followed by similar adoption in Android and other mobile operating systems. In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries named an emoji the Word of the Year.
