I know the OP was made more than 5 years ago, but to answer the original question, I believe 可愛→可愛い is a loanword from Chinese "ke ai," and therefore not ateji.
It doesn't even give the kanji in the 見出し語. And here's the entry in 大辞林, which also says they're ateji. Chinese 可愛 may be a case of reverse importation.
Can somebody tell me are gaman, gomen and mendou ateji words? In some dictionaries, I read that these are wasei kango words, but in other dictionaries , it is written that these are ateji words in which Kanji is only used to indicate pronounciation.
It was in various dictionaries on internet, so I was just checking about it, because I was not sure. Where can I find more about ateji words? Is there any dictionary of ateji?
面倒(mendou) 面倒くさい／面倒臭い／めんどうくさい／めんどくさい - 語源由来辞典
1) from めでる(mederu: to praise/admire)
2) from めったい/めってい/めんたい(mettai/mettei/mentai: a dialect for "thanks")
Thus, as Glenn-san wrote,
我慢(gaman); loanword from Chinese, of course not ateji
御免(gomen); wasei kango, not ateji
面倒(mendou); wasei kango, ateji
It was in various dictionaries on internet, so I was just checking about it, because I was not sure. Where can I find more about ateji words? Is there any dictionary of ateji?
Just out of curiosity, why does it matter so much to you? What is your goal in knowing this? Why does whether something is ateji or not make a difference to you?
Just out of curiosity, why does it matter so much to you? What is your goal in knowing this? Why does whether something is ateji or not make a difference to you?
I know the OP was made more than 5 years ago, but to answer the original question, I believe 可愛→可愛い is a loanword from Chinese "ke ai," and therefore not ateji.