胸当て

胸当て

Japanese

Kanji in this term
胸	当
むな Grade: 6	あ Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
胸當て (kyūjitai)

Kanji in this term
胸	当
むね Grade: 6	あ Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
胸當て (kyūjitai)

胸当て (muneate, munaate): a western-style breastplate.

胸当て (muneate, munaate): a baby wearing a bib.

胸当て (muneate, munaate): the bib of an apron.

胸当て (muneate, munaate): a samurai drawing a bow and wearing a plastron or chestguard.

Etymology

Compound of 胸 (mune, “chest”) +‎ 当て (ate, “placing or applying one thing to another”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 当てる (ateru, “to place or apply one thing to another”)), literally meaning "thing placed or applied to the chest".[1][2][3] Attested from 1603 in the Nippo Jisho.[1]

Sometimes also encountered with a vowel shift, as munaate.[1][2] This reading is attested slightly earlier, from 1597,[1] and reflects the older muna reading for 胸 that is only found in older compounds.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) むねあて [mùnéáté] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
• (Tokyo) むねあて​ [mùnéátéꜜ] (Odaka – [4])[2][3]
• (Tokyo) むねあ​て [mùnéáꜜtè] (Nakadaka – [3])[3]
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝne̞a̠te̞]

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) むなあて [mùnááté] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• (Tokyo) むなあて​ [mùnáátéꜜ] (Odaka – [4])[2]
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝna̠ːte̞]

Noun

胸(むね)当(あ)て or 胸(むな)当(あ)て • (muneate or munaate) 

1. western-style armor for the chest: a breastplate

   Synonym: 胸甲 (kyōkō)

2. a chest protector used in traditional Japanese firefighting
3. (by extension) a cloth bib or chest covering worn as protection from the sun by travelers or messengers, or as protection from food and spills by children or workers

   Synonym: (closer to an apron than a bib, strictly speaking) 前掛け (maekake)

4. (fashion) the front portion of an apron, jumper dress, or overalls that extends above the waist and covers the front of the body
5. (archery) a plastron, a chestguard, used in 弓道 (kyūdō, “traditional Japanese archery”) to protect the chest from the bowstring (more commonly, but not exclusively, used by women)
6. a guess, an estimate, a conjecture

   Synonyms: (guess) 心当て (kokoroate), (estimate) 見込み (mikomi), (estimate) 推量 (suiryō), (estimate, guess) 見当 (kentō), (conjecture) 憶測 (okusoku)

Usage notes

The breastplate sense is specific to western-style armor. This term is not used for Japanese armor, where instead the portion covering the torso is called the 胴 (dō).

See also

• 鎧(よろい) (yoroi, “armor”)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN