弁当

Japanese

A typical bento

A homemade bento

Kanji in this term
弁	当
べん Grade: 5	とう Grade: 2
goon

Alternative spelling

Etymology

/bentau/ → /bentɔː/ → /bentoː/

Borrowed from Mandarin 便當／便当 (biàndang, “convenient”).

The use of 弁 for ben is an example of phonetic ateji (当て字), due to 便 having another sense of "human excrement'.

Noun

1. food brought on the go
2. bento (takeaway lunch served in a box)
3. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
4. (law) Synonym of 執行猶予 (shikkō yūyo): a suspended sentence

Derived terms

• お弁当(べんとう), 御弁当(おべんとう) (o-bentō)
• 弁当(べんとう)箱(ばこ) (bentō-bako)
• 駅弁(えきべん) (ekiben)
• キャラ弁(べん) (kyaraben), キャラ弁当(べんとう) (kyara-bentō)

Idioms

• 弁当(べんとう)を使(つか)う (bentō o tsukau, “use a bento → eat a bento”)

Descendants

• Chinese:
  • Mandarin: 便當／便当 (biàndāng)
  • Cantonese: 便當／便当 (bin6 dong3)
  • Min Nan: 便當／便当 (piān-tong)
• → English: bento

References

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.