食う

食う

Japanese

Kanji in this term
食
く Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 喰う

Etymology

/kupu/ → /kuɸu/ → */kuwu/ → /kuu/

From Old Japanese.[1]

The medial /w/ vanishes because Japanese does not have a /wu/ phoneme. It surfaces though in various conjugations, such as the negative form kuwanai or the passive form kuwareru.

Possibly cognate with 口 (kuchi, “mouth”).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) く​う [kúꜜù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝː]

Verb

食う (godan conjugation, hiragana くう, rōmaji kuu, historical hiragana くふ)

1. to put something in one's mouth
2. (men's speech, vulgar) to eat, to devour

   誰 (だれ)でも昼 (ひる)には飯 (めし)を食 (く)う。

   Dare de mo hiru ni wa meshi o kuu.

   Everyone eats food at noon.

3. to make a living, to live; to survive
4. to tease, to taunt, to make light of, to make fun of; to torment
5. (of an insect, usually used in the passive) to bite, to sting

   昨晩 (さくばん)は、蚊 (か)に食 (く)われた。

   Sakuban wa, ka ni kuwareta.

   I got bitten by a mosquito last night.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "食う" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	食わ	くわ	kuwa
Continuative (連用形)	食い	くい	kui
Terminal (終止形)	食う	くう	kuu
Attributive (連体形)	食う	くう	kuu
Hypothetical (仮定形)	食え	くえ	kue
Imperative (命令形)	食え	くえ	kue
Key constructions
Passive	食われる	くわれる	kuwareru
Causative	食わせる 食わす	くわせる くわす	kuwaseru kuwasu
Potential	食える	くえる	kueru
Volitional	食おう	くおう	kuō
Negative	食わない	くわない	kuwanai
Negative continuative	食わず	くわず	kuwazu
Formal	食います	くいます	kuimasu
Perfective	食った	くった	kutta
Conjunctive	食って	くって	kutte
Hypothetical conditional	食えば	くえば	kueba

Synonyms

• (to eat): 食 (た)べる (taberu); (honorific) 召 (め)し上 (あ)がる (meshiagaru)
• 食 (は)む (hamu), 喰 (は)む (hamu)
• (insect bite): 刺 (さ)す (sasu)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 崩ゆ, 潰ゆ, 壊ゆ (kuyu): obsolete for 崩える, 潰える, 壊える
• 崩, 潰 (kue): erosion
• 崩える, 潰える, 壊える (kueru): to erode, to be eaten away, to fall apart, to break
• 桑 (kuwa): a mulberry
• 銜う, 啣える, 咥える (kuwau): obsolete for 銜える, 啣える, 咥える
• 加う (kuwau): obsolete for 加える
• 銜える, 啣える, 咥える (kuwaeru): to hold in one's mouth
• 加える (kuwaeru): to add something, to increase or develop something; to inflict
• 加わる (kuwawaru): to increase, to grow; to be added on to something else; to join in

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