お年玉

• 御年玉

From 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 年 (toshi, “year”) +‎ 玉 (tama, “ball; jewel”). Perhaps from the practice of offering balls of 餅 (mochi) to the gods in New Year.[1]

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) おとしだま [òtóshídámá] (Heiban – [0])[1][2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [o̞to̞ɕida̠ma̠]

お年玉 (hiragana おとしだま, rōmaji otoshidama)

1. a red envelope
   • 1988 July 30 [Jul 25 1985], Fujiko F. Fujio, “宇そ宙らからのおとし玉だま [An Outta-the-Ballue Falltune]”, in 宇宙船製造法 [How to Build a Spaceship] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 3), volume 3 (fiction), 6th edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 10:

     かわったなあ、ミッちゃんも…………。手をつないで学校へかよったころもあったのに……。なにもかもかわっていくような気がする。お正月さえも。たのしいことがいっぱいあったような気がするなあ。すごろく、トランプ、たこあげ、お年玉…。

     Kawatta nā, Mitchan mo…………. Te o tsunaide gakkō e kayotta koro mo atta no ni……. Nani mo ka mo kawatteiku yō na ki ga suru. O-Shōgatsu sae mo. Tanoshii koto ga ippai atta yō na ki ga suru nā. Sugoroku, toranpu, takoage, o-toshidama….

     Mitchan’s changed, too…………. To think we used to go to school and back home, hand in hand……. It feels like everything’s changed now. Even New Year itself. There used to be a lot fun things to do. Playing sugoroku or cards, flying kites, collecting fortune money….