お年玉

Japanese

Kanji in this term
年 玉
とし
Grade: 1		 たま > だま
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

  • 御年玉

Etymology

From 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 年 (toshi, “year”) +‎ 玉 (tama, “ball; jewel”). Perhaps from the practice of offering balls of 餅 (mochi) to the gods in New Year.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

お年玉 (hiragana おとしだま, rōmaji otoshidama)

  1. a red envelope
    • 1988 July 30 [Jul 25 1985], Fujiko F. Fujio, “宇そ宙らからのおとし玉だま [An Outta-the-Ballue Falltune]”, in 宇宙船製造法 [How to Build a Spaceship] (藤子不二雄少年SF短編集; 3), volume 3 (fiction, in Japanese), 6th edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 10:
      かわったなあ、ミッちゃんも…………。手をつないで学校へかよったころもあったのに……。なにもかもかわっていくような気がする。お正月さえも。たのしいことがいっぱいあったような気がするなあ。すごろく、トランプ、たこあげ、お年玉…。
      Kawatta nā, Mitchan mo…………. Te o tsunaide gakkō e kayotta koro mo atta no ni……. Nani mo ka mo kawatteiku yō na ki ga suru. Oshōgatsu sae mo. Tanoshii koto ga ippai atta yō na ki ga suru nā. Sugoroku, toranpu, takoage, otoshidama….
      Mitchan’s changed, too…………. To think we used to go to school and back home, hand in hand……. It feels like everything’s changed now. Even the New Year itself. There used to be a lot fun things to do. Playing sugoroku or cards, flying kites, collecting fortune money….

References

  1. 1 2 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
  3. ↑ 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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