麹

See also: 麴, 麯, and 曲

麹	U+9EB9, 麹 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-9EB9

← 麸
[U+9EB8]

CJK Unified Ideographs

麺 →
[U+9EBA]

Translingual

Traditional	麴
Shinjitai (extended)	麹
Simplified	曲/麹

Han character

麹 (Kangxi radical 199, 麦+8, 15 strokes, Cangjie input 手水心火木 (QEPFD), composition ⿰麦匊 or ⿺麦匊)

References

Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1514, character 57
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 7, page 4605, character 5
Unihan data for U+9EB9

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 麹 – see 麴 (“yeast; leaven; wine; alcoholic beverage; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 麴).

Usage notes

Is standard when used as surname, otherwise known to be used in distinction with 曲.

Japanese

Shinjitai (extended)	麹
Print standard	麴

Kanji

麹

(Hyōgai kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 麴)

koji mold
sake (Japanese rice wine)

Readings

Go-on: きく (kiku)
Kan-on: きく (kiku)
Kun: かびたち (kabitachi, 麹)、かむし (kamushi, 麹)、かむち (kamuchi, 麹)、かんだち (kandachi, 麹)、こうじ (kōji, 麹)^{←かうぢ (kaudi, 麹, historical)}

Usage notes

This is one of the 22 widely used extended shinjitai (簡(かん)易(い)慣(かん)用(よう)字(じ)体(たい) (kan'i kan'yō jitai)).

Alternative forms

麯

Compounds

麹(きく)院(いん)／麴(きく)院(いん) (kikuin)
麹(きく)菌(きん)／麴(きく)菌(きん) (kikukin): aspergillus
麹(きく)君(くん)／麴(きく)君(くん) (kikukun)
麹(きく)蘖(げつ)／麴(きく)蘖(げつ) (kikugetsu)
麹(きく)氏(し)／麴(きく)氏(し) (kikushi)
麹(きく)室(しつ)／麴(きく)室(しつ) (kikushitsu)
麹(きく)車(しゃ)／麴(きく)車(しゃ) (kikusha)
麹(きく)秀(しゅう)才(さい)／麴(きく)秀(しゅう)才(さい) (kikushūsai)
麹(きく)塵(じん)／麴(きく)塵(じん) (kikujin)
麹(きく)生(せい)／麴(きく)生(せい) (kikusei)
製(せい)麹(きく)／製(せい)麴(きく) (seikiku)
神麹(しんぎく) (shingiku)/神麴(しんぎく) (shingiku)
製麹(せいぎく) (seigiku)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
麹
こうじ Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
麴 (kyūjitai) 糀糱

麹 on Japanese Wikipedia

Aspergillus oryzae on Wikipedia

Two likely derivations:

Shift from a compound of 黴 (kabi, “mold”) +‎ 発ち (tachi, stem or continuative form of verb 発つ (tatsu), "to arise").^[1]^[2]
/kabi tati/ → /kaũtat͡ɕi/ → /kaũdat͡ɕi/ → /kaud͡ʑi/ → /kɔːd͡ʑi/ → /koːd͡ʑi/
Alternatively, a shift from 醸し (kamoshi), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 醸す (kamosu, “to brew”).
/kamosi/ → /kamuɕi/ → /kaũɕi/ → /kaũʑi/ → /kɔːʑi/ → /koːd͡ʑi/

Dictionaries differ in whether to write the historical kana as かうぢ (kaudi)^[1]^[2] or かうじ (kauzi).^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] The former spelling is based on the suspected kabitachi derivation, while the latter is based on historical texts from prior to the merger of ぢ (di, /dʑi/) and じ (zi, /ʑi/) into ji (/(d)ʑi/), which consistently record the final syllable as じ (zi).^[5]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) こーじ [kòójí] (Heiban – [0])^[7]^[8]
IPA^(key): [ko̞ːʑi]

Noun

麹(こうじ) • (kōji) ^{←かうぢ (kaudi) or かうじ (kauzi)^?}

koji: a substance that is produced by letting a mold, especially Aspergillus oryzae, grow on rice, barley, soybeans, etc., used to make fermented products such as sake, amazake, miso, and soy sauce

Derived terms

Descendants

→ English: koji
- ⇒ English: kojic

Proper noun

麹(こうじ) • (Kōji)

a surname

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
麹
かむだち Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
麴 (kyūjitai)

For pronunciation and definitions of 麹 – see the following entry.

【かむだち】

[noun] [from 938] (rare) koji: a mold, Aspergillus oryzae, used as a starter for fermenting rice, barley, soybeans, etc. to make sake, miso, etc.

(This term, 麹, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
麹
かんだち Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
麴 (kyūjitai)

For pronunciation and definitions of 麹 – see the following entry.

【かんだち】

[noun] (rare) alternative form of かむだち (kamudachi)

(This term, 麹, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “麹”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 “麹”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2019), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Fourth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 Hisao Komatsu, Hideo Suzuki, et al., editors (2011), 新明解語源辞典 [Shinmeikai Etymological Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN, pages 363-364
^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (2018), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →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

Korean

Hanja

麹 • (guk) (hangeul 국, revised guk, McCune–Reischauer kuk, Yale kwuk)

This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

[DDJS-1] 1.0 ^1.1 “麹”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[NKD-2] 2.0 ^2.1 “麹”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[3] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[4] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2019), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Fourth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[SMKGGJT-5] 5.0 ^5.1 Hisao Komatsu, Hideo Suzuki, et al., editors (2011), 新明解語源辞典 [Shinmeikai Etymological Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN, pages 363-364

[6] Shinmura, Izuru, editor (2018), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten

[DJR-7] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-8] 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

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