旦那

Japanese

Kanji in this term
旦	那

Etymology

Transliteration of Sanskrit दान (dāna, “generosity, giving, donating”).

Pronunciation

• Kan'yō'on
• IPA: /daɴna/

Alternative forms

• 檀那

Noun

旦那 (hiragana だんな, romaji danna)

1. (Buddhism) generosity as one of the Buddhist perfections (पारमिता (pāramitā))
2. (Buddhism) donating money to monks or a temple
3. (archaic) in the Japanese medieval period, overnight visitors to a shrine or temple
4. broadly, a patron, a husband, a master:
   1. (honorific) a master of servants, a boss of employees, the master of the house
   2. (honorific) by extension, an honorific for one's own or someone else's husband
   3. (honorific) also by extension, used by shopkeepers to address a male customer or by an artisan to refer to one's own school or lineage
   4. (honorific) a term used by a concubine, mistress, or geisha to refer to one's own patron: a sugar daddy
   5. (honorific) a term used by female servants to refer to the mistress of the house

Usage notes

When referring to another person's husband, this term is often suffixed with 様 (sama) as 旦那様 (danna-sama).

Derived terms

• 旦那ぶる (だんなぶる, dannaburu): to act or behave masterfully
• 旦那芸 (だんなげい, dannagei): an art or cultural pursuit studied by someone who is well-to-do as a means of passing the time
• 旦那寺 (だんなでら, dannadera): a Buddhist temple supported by a household that has converted to Buddhism
• 旦那持ち, 旦那持 (だんなもち, danna mochi): having patronage; someone that has patronage (generally female, such as a geisha)
• 旦那取り, 旦那取 (だんなどり, dannadori): taking a master, as a servant; becoming a mistress or concubine
• 旦那場 (だんなば, dannaba): a good customer

Idioms

• 旦那を取る (だんなをとる, danna o toru): "to take a master", to find a patron → generally refers to a geisha or other female finding a male to look after their needs
• 旦那の一気働きは鬼も叶わぬ (だんなのいっきばたらきはおにもかなわぬ, danna no ikkibataraki wa oni mo kanawanu): "not even the devil can match the master for getting down to hard work" → someone who rarely has to get involved in actual work will work very hard when they have to roll up their sleeves and do it themselves
• 旦那の喧嘩は槍持ちから (だんなのけんかはやりもちから, danna no kenka wa yarimochi kara): "fights between masters start from the guardsmen" → disputes between the powerful often arise from minor disputes among their employees or followers: petty foibles can lead to big battles
• 旦那の好きな赤烏帽子 (だんなのすきなあかえぼし, danna no suki na akaeboshi): "the master's beloved red eboshi hat" → 烏帽子 (eboshi) are traditionally black, so a red eboshi indicates someone willing to go against tradition: no matter how strange, one must follow one's master
• 旦那の前より釜の前 (だんなのまえよりかまのまえ, danna no mae yori kama no mae): "(better) in front of a pot than in front of a master" → it is better to be one's own master, even if it means being poor
• 旦那三百我五百 (だんなさんびゃくわれごひゃく, danna sanbyaku ware gohyaku): "three hundred for the master, five hundred for me" → people generally think of their own benefit more than the benefit of their masters or bosses

See also

• Pāramitā on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Pāramitā