きり

See also: ぎり

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
切り (rare)

Particle

きり • (kiri) 

1. just, only

   二(ふた)人(り)きりのお店(みせ)

   futari kiri no-omise

   a shop for just the two of them/us (with no one else present)

   家(いえ)を出(で)たきり戻(もど)らず

   ie o deta kiri modorazu

   exiting the house and never returning

Usage notes

• Used less often than だけ (dake); きり (kiri) emphasizes the limitation.

Derived terms

• これきり (korekiri): last time, never again, only this
• それきり (sorekiri): with that, on that note
• 一(ひと)人(り)きり (hitori kiri): all on one's own
• 二(ふた)人(り)きり (futari kiri): just the two of them

Alternative forms

• (more old-fashioned) ぎり (giri)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of きり – see the following entries.

【切り】 [noun] 切り, 切, 限: limits, bounds, end [suffix] cutter Alternative spellings 切, 限

【霧】S [noun] mist, fog [noun] breath expelled from a person [noun] a liquid (e.g. water) that is dispelled into the air like fog [noun] (slang, crime) dawn; daybreak [proper noun] a female given name

【桐】J [noun] [from 700s] the paulownia tree, Paulownia tomentosa [noun] [date uncertain] a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with various designs of paulownia flowers and leaves [noun] [from 1781] (hanafuda) The suit of paulownia in a hanafuda deck, representing the month of December and the number twelve in most of Japan (July and seven in 虫花 (mushibana) decks, June and six in games from the Nagoya region, and November and eleven in Korea) [noun] [from 1798] (colloquial) a koto (Japanese zither) [noun] [from 1815] (colloquial) money, especially gold coins such as the 大判 (ōban) and the 小判 (koban) [proper noun] a female given name [proper noun] a surname Alternative spelling キリ

【錐】J [noun] a pointy tool used to make holes, such as a drill, a gimlet, an auger or an awl

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