サボテン
Japanese
Alternative spellings |
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仙人掌 覇王樹 |
Etymology
Unknown. Perhaps from Portuguese sabão (“soap”)[1][2][3], possibly suffixed with 手 (te, “hand; helper; means of an action”),[1][2] as cactus stems were used by the Portuguese to remove stains. If this derivation is correct, this would represent a sound shift of sabon te → saboten.
The kanji are orthographic borrowing from Chinese 仙人掌 (xiānrénzhǎng) and Chinese 霸王樹/霸王树 (bàwángshù)
First cited to around 1764 as 仙人掌.[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
- cactus (member of the Cactaceae family)
- 1986, Nakanishi Yasuo, Taniku shokubutsu [Succulent plants], page 98:
- 「これはサボテンでしょう」と言われることが多い。確かにサボテンのほうが昔からよく知られ、多肉植物という名は耳新しく聞こえるかも知れない。サボテンと多肉植物と言い方がある。
- “Kore wa saboten deshō” to iwareru koto ga ōi. Tashikani saboten no hō ga mukashi kara yoku shirare, taniku shokubutsu to iu mei wa mimi atarashiku kikoeru kamoshirenai. Saboten to taniku shokubutsu to ii kata ga aru.
- Many people say, “These are cactus, right.” Of course, the word cactus has been known for a long time, and succulent plants may be new to your ears. They are called both cactus and succulents.
- 「これはサボテンでしょう」と言われることが多い。確かにサボテンのほうが昔からよく知られ、多肉植物という名は耳新しく聞こえるかも知れない。サボテンと多肉植物と言い方がある。
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
Further reading
- Entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)
Categories:
- Japanese terms with unknown etymologies
- Japanese terms derived from Portuguese
- Japanese terms borrowed from Chinese
- Japanese orthographic borrowings from Chinese
- Japanese terms derived from Chinese
- Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Japanese katakana
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese nouns
- Japanese terms with usage examples
- ja:Cacti