用ひる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
用
もち Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Etymology

First attested in texts around the Kamakura period, persisting until around the script reforms in the 1920s.

The attestable root verb is 用ゐる (mochiwiru), itself a compound (see that entry for details). During the mid-Heian period, medial /-f-/ sounds shifted to /-w-/, leading to confusion between mid-word ゐ (wi) and ひ (wi, read as fi in word-initial position). The もちひる (mochiwiru) hiragana spelling was then reinterpreted as a conjugation of base verb もちふ (mochi(w)u), which appears as a back-formation. Later during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, sound changes reduced medial /-w-/ still further, such that /wi/ merged into /i/. The resulting shift in the verb ending from -wiru to -iru was reinterpreted again as a conjugation of base form もちゆ (mochiyu), which again appears as a back-formation.

Verb

用ひ(もちい)る • (mochiiru) ^{←もちひる (motifiru)?}

1. (obsolete, historical) Rare archaic alternative spelling of 用いる (mochiiru), historical 用ゐる (mochiwiru): to use
   • 1940s, Hajime Kawakami, 枕上浮雲:

     室内の歩行に杖を用ひず、階上への上り下りにも、さまで脚のだるきを感ぜず。

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 1946, 日本國憲法 (“The Constitution of Japan”), Article 29:

     私(し)有(ゆう)財(ざい)產(さん)は、正(せい)當(とう)な補(ほ)償(しょう)の下(もと)に、これを公(こう)共(きょう)のために用(もち)ひることができる。

     Shiyūzaisan wa, seitō na hoshō no moto ni, kore o kōkyō no tame ni mochiiru koto ga dekiru.

     Private property may be taken for public use upon just compensation therefor.

See also

• 用(もち)ふ (mochifu)
• 用(もち)ゆ (mochiyu)