国色

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 国色 – see 國色 (“most beautiful woman of a country; national beauty; peony”). (This term is the simplified form of 國色).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
国	色
こく Grade: 2	しょく Grade: 2
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
國色 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese compound 國色／国色 (kwok srik, literally “nation + beauty”). Compare modern Mandarin 國色／国色 (guósè, “most beautiful woman of a country; peony”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こくしょく [kòkúshókú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ko̞kɯ̟ᵝɕo̞kɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

国(こく)色(しょく) • (kokushoku) 

1. most beautiful woman of a country
2. Synonym of 牡丹 (botan, “peony”)

Synonyms

• (peony): 天香国色(てんこうこくしょく) (tenkōkokushoku), 皇(すべらぎ)の花(はな) (suberagi no hana)