天鵞絨

See also: 天鵝絨

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
天	鵞	絨
てん Grade: 1	が Hyōgai	じゅう Hyōgai
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”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) てんがじゅう [tèńgáꜜjùù] (Nakadaka – [3])^[1]
IPA^(key): [tẽ̞ŋɡa̠ʑɨː]

Noun

天(てん)鵞(が)絨(じゅう) • (tengajū)

(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The kanji spelling and on'yomi of tengajū are not used much in modern Japanese, and have been superseded by the borrowed term ビロード.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
ビロード
Grade: 1	Hyōgai	Hyōgai
jukujikun

Alternative spelling
ビロード

The spelling is from the tengajū reading, ultimately from Chinese. The reading ビロード (birōdo) is from Portuguese veludo (“velvet”).^[2]^[1] The term was borrowed when Portuguese traders and missionaries first introduced velvet to Japan in the 1500s.

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 天鵞絨 – see the following entry.

【ビロード】

[noun] velvet

Alternative spelling
びろうど

(This term, 天鵞絨, is an alternative spelling (rare, archaic) of the above term.)

Usage notes

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

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-2] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[1]

[2]