ビール

See also: ビル

Japanese

ビール (bīru): a glass of beer.

Etymology

Alternative spelling
麦酒 (rare)

Borrowing from Dutch bier.

First cited to a text from 1724 with the kanji spelling 麦酒 (literally “barley liquor”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ビ​ール [bíꜜìrù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [bʲiːɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

ビール • (bīru) 

1. [from 1724] beer (alcoholic drink made of malt)

   日(にっ)本(ぽん)麦酒(ビール)

   Nippon Bīru

   Nippon Beer

   Synonyms: (less common) ビヤー (biyā), (only used in compounds) ビヤ (biya), (only used in compounds) ビア (bia)

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with ビル (biru, “building”).
• The kanji spelling 麦酒 may be found in certain contexts such as beer labels.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• ビールジョッキ (bīru jokki, “(large) beer mug or stein”)
• ビール券(けん) (bīru-ken, “gift certificate for buying beer”)
• 瓶(びん)ビール (bin bīru, “bottled beer”)
• 缶(かん)ビール (kan-bīru, “canned beer”)
• 生(なま)ビール (nama-bīru, “draft beer”)
• ビール腹(ばら) (bīru-bara, “beer belly”)

Descendants

• → Hakka: 啤露 (pi-lú)
• → Korean: 비르 (bireu)
• → Min Nan: bì-lù, bì-luh, bih-luh
• → Jeju: 비르 (bireu)