馬鈴薯

Japanese

Kanji in this term
馬	鈴	薯

Etymology

Origin unclear. Attributed to noted Edo-period botanist and scholar of Chinese medicine Ono Ranzan (see Wikipedia:ja:小野蘭山) in the late 1700s. May be from Sinitic 馬鈴薯, or may be a Japanese coinage later borrowed into Chinese.

According to one theory, this word is a compound of 馬 (ba, “horse”) +‎ 鈴 (rei, “bell”) +‎ 薯 (sho, “potato”), from the way the potato looks a bit like the bells used in the tack for stage horses. In another theory, 馬鈴 (barei) is an example of ateji for Malay, since potatoes were introduced to Japan via the Dutch East Indies.

Noun

馬鈴薯 (hiragana ばれいしょ, romaji bareisho)

1. potato (Solanum tuberosum)

Synonyms

• じゃがいも, ジャガイモ, ジャガ芋, ジャガ薯 (jagaimo)

See also

• 馬鈴薯 on the Japanese Wikipedia.ja.Wikipedia
• Potato on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Potato

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Mandarin

simpl.		马铃薯
trad.		馬鈴薯

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ma˨˩liŋ˧˥ʂu˨˩˦/

Noun

馬鈴薯 (traditional, Pinyin mǎlíngshǔ, simplified 马铃薯)

1. potato

Synonyms

• 洋山芋 (yángshānyú) (regional)
• 土豆 (tǔdòu) (not in Taiwan)