あくた

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
芥

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Man'yōshū of 759.

A surface analysis suggests a possible relation to root /kut-/, as in 朽ちる (kuchiru, “to break down, to fall into disrepair”), 草臥れる (kutabireru, “to become tired or worn out”), 鶏 (kutakake, “chicken”, literally “rubbish clucker”), くたくた (kutakuta, “in a broken-down or worn-out manner”, adverb).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あ​くた [áꜜkùtà] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) あくた [àkútá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [a̠kɯ̟ᵝta̠]

Noun

あくた • (akuta) ^{←あくた (akuta)?}

1. [from 759] something rotten or broken: garbage, waste, dross
2. (by extension) something worthless

Derived terms

• 芥火(あくたび) (akutabi)
• 芥川(あくたがわ) (Akutagawa)
• 芥(あくた)もくた (akuta-mokuta)
• (possibly) がらくた (garakuta)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of あくた – see the following entry.

【芥田】 [proper noun] a surname

(This term, あくた, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as あくた, see Category:Japanese kanji read as あくた.)