天鵞絨

See also: 天鵝絨

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
天	鵞	絨
てん Grade: 1	が Hyōgaiji	じゅう Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

The 1734 work 本朝世事綺談 (Honchō Seji Kidan, “Embellished Tales of Everyday Japan”; also listed as 本朝世事談綺, with the last two characters swapped) describes this kanji spelling as arising from how velvet shines and shimmers in a way reminiscent of a swan's plumage: 天鵞 (tenga, “swan”, obsolete) + 絨 (jū, “thick fabric”).

Noun

天(てん)鵞(が)絨(じゅう) • (tengajū) 

1. (rare, archaic) velvet

Usage notes

The kanji spelling and on'yomi of tengajū are not used much in modern Japanese, and have been superseded by the borrowed term ビロード.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
天	鵞	絨
Grade: 1	Hyōgaiji	Hyōgaiji
irregular

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Portuguese veludo (“velvet”). The term was borrowed when Portuguese traders and missionaries first introduced velvet to Japan in the 1500s.

Alternative forms

• ビロード (more common spelling)

Noun

天鵞絨(ビロード) • (birōdo) 

1. Alternative spelling of ビロード: velvet

Usage notes

The katakana spelling ビロード is more common for this term.