はず

See also: はす

Japanese

Alternative spellings
筈弭

Unknown. There are several origin theories, including:^[1]

From ハヅレ (hazure, “other; extraordinary”)
Of obsolete forms ハ, meaning “open; unfold”, and ズ, meaning “unlimited; without end”
Abbreviation of 手(て)はず (tehazu, “arrangement; plan”)
Abbreviation of obsolete ハスヱ (hasue, “tip; end”)
From 羽(は) (ha, “feather”) and 頭(ず) (zu, “tip; head”)

はず • (hazu) ^{←はず (fazu)^?}

nock; the grooves that hold a bowstring on a bow, the notch that holds an arrow to the bowstring
(sumo) a nock-shaped grip used in はず押(お)し (hazu oshi)
as things should be; what is expected; should be so; must be; bound to be; expected to be
船(ふね)は来(らい)週(しゅう)横(よこ)浜(はま)に着(つ)くはずである。
Fune wa raishū Yokohama ni tsuku hazu de aru.
The ship should arrive in Yokohama next week.

そんなはずはない。
Sonna hazu wa nai.
That isn't right. That should not happen.

不(ふ)可(か)能(のう)なはずだった。
Fukanō na hazu datta.
It should have been impossible.

その弭(はず)が神(しん)霊(れい)のより所(どころ)
sono hazu ga shinrei no yoridokoro
that is as the gods should allow

(as things should be):
- Attaches to a verb or adjective to indicate an expectation that something took place, will take place, or is (was) in some state.
- This term is often spelled in hiragana, being an abstract word largely divorced from its original meaning.

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN