あぶら

あぶら

Japanese

Hiragana	modern	あぶら
	historical	あぶら
Kanji	油 膏 脂

Etymology

From the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of verb 炙る (aburu, “to warm, to toast”).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) あぶら [àbúrá] (Heiban – [0])[1][2]
  • IPA^(key): [a̠bɯ̟ᵝɾa̠]

Noun

あぶら (rōmaji abura)

1. 油, 膏: oil
2. 脂: fat
3. 脂: skin oil
   • 1996, 玉置浩二 (lyrics), “田園”, performed by 玉置浩二:

     アブラにまみれて　黙 (だま)り込 (こ)んだあいつ

     abura ni mamirete damarikonda aitsu

     the silent fellow covered in sweat (oily perspiration)

Idioms

• 油 (あぶら)を売 (う)る (abura o uru): waste time

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN