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The Japanese word Kamikaze is usually translated as "divine wind" (kami is the word for "god", "spirit", or "divinity", and kaze for "wind"). The word kamikaze originated as the name of major typhoons in 1274 and 1281, which dispersed Mongolian invasion fleets.

In Japanese, the formal term used for units carrying out suicide attacks during 1944-45 is tokubetsu kōgeki tai (特別攻撃隊), which literally means "special attack unit". This is usually abbreviated to tokkōtai (特攻隊). More specifically, air suicide attack units from the Imperial Japanese Navy were officially called shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki tai (神風特別攻撃隊, "divine wind special attack units"). Shinpū is the on-reading (on'yomi or Chinese-derived pronunciation) of the same characters that form the word kamikaze in Japanese. During World War II, the pronunciation kamikaze was used in Japan only informally in relation to suicide attacks, but after the war this usage gained acceptance worldwide and was re-imported into Japan. As a result, the special attack units are sometimes known in Japan as kamikaze tokubetsu kōgeki tai.

Since the end of the war, the term kamikaze has sometimes been used as a pars pro toto for other kinds of attack in which an attacker is deliberately sacrificed. These include a variety of suicide attacks, in other historical contexts, such as the proposed use of Selbstopfer aircraft by Nazi Germany and various suicide bombings by terrorist organizations around the world (such as the September 11, 2001 attacks). In English, the word kamikaze may also be used in a hyperbolic or metaphorical fashion to refer to non-fatal actions which result in significant loss for the attacker, such as injury or the end of a career.

自殺式攻擊敵軍目標的戰術，據說最早起於日俄戰爭日軍攻擊俄軍的戰法中，當時頗有效果，遂被記載下來。

日本神風特別攻擊隊，簡稱神風特攻隊，由日本帝國海軍中將大西瀧治郎首倡，是在第二次世界大戰末期日本在中途島一役失敗後，為了抵禦美國軍事強大的優勢，挽救其戰敗的局面，利用日本人的武士道精神，按照「一人、一機、一彈換一艦」的要求，對美國艦艇編隊、登陸部隊及固定的集群目標實施的自殺式襲擊的特別攻擊隊。

日本帝國海軍及陸軍在第二次世界大戰中推出的「特攻自殺武器」種類繁多，有專為自殺攻擊而設計的MXY7「櫻花」自殺特攻機、裝置炸藥的快艇「震洋」、載人魚雷「回天」等。而在戰爭後期的大空襲中，也出現了專門衝撞美軍B-29轟炸機的「震天制空隊」，與世界最大戰艦「大和」號的「水上特攻」。

Data from Wikipedia/digibase