師走

Japanese

Kanji in this term

Grade: 5
Grade: 2
on’yomi Irregular

Alternative forms

Etymology 1

/sipasu//ɕifasu//ɕiwasu/

Shift from shihasu, ancient sipasu (see below).

The kanji is an example of phonetic ateji (当て字), literally "priests running"; there were traditionally many services for Buddhist priests to attend at this month.

Pronunciation

  • (Irregular reading)

Noun

師走 (hiragana しわす, rōmaji shiwasu, historical hiragana しはす)

  1. (archaic) the twelfth month of the lunar calendar
    • c. 859-985, Kagura Uta, Kodai Kayōshū, page 337:
      本 乎美名古乃左衣八 末 志毛月志波須乃 加伊古本千[3]
      (please add an English translation of this quote)
    Synonyms: 限りの月 (kagiri no tsuki), 極まり月 (kiwamarizuki), 極月 (gokugetsu), 果ての月 (hate no tsuki), 臘月 (rōgetsu)
  2. (poetic) the month of preparation for the new year; December
Derived terms
  • 師走 (しわす) (あぶら) (shiwasu abura)
  • 師走 (しわす) (ぎつね) (shiwasu-gitsune)
Proverbs
  • 師走 (しわす) (ぼう) () (shiwasu bōzu)
  • 師走 (しわす) (ろう) (にん) (shiwasu rōnin)

Proper noun

師走 (hiragana しわす, rōmaji Shiwasu, historical hiragana しはす)

  1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term

Grade: 5
Grade: 2
on’yomi Irregular

/sipasu//ɕifasu//ɕihasu/

From Old Japanese of unknown derivation.

The final -hasu is thought to be related to the verb 果つ (hatsu, to come to an end). (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

Noun

師走 (hiragana しはす, rōmaji shihasu)

  1. Same as しわす (shiwasu) above

Coordinate terms

See also

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  3. Tsuchihashi, Yutaka; Jin'ichi Konishi, Ichinosuke Takagi (1957) Kodai Kayōshū, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.