売る

Etymology

Probably cognate with Old Japanese-derived 得る (uru, “to obtain, to get”, modern eru), from the sense of getting money in exchange for the item sold.

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) うる [ùrú] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
  • IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

売る (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 賣る, transitive, godan conjugation, hiragana うる, rōmaji uru)

1. to sell something (to agree to transfer goods)

   野菜 (やさい)を売 (う)る

   yasai o uru

   to sell vegetables

2. to sell someone out, to betray

   仲間 (なかま)を売 (う)る

   nakama o uru

   to sell out one's friend, to sell one's friend down the river

3. to agitate, to incite

   喧 (けん)嘩 (か)を売 (う)る

   kenka o uru

   to incite a quarrel

   何 (なん)だ、喧 (けん)嘩 (か)を売 (う)っているかい？

   Nan da, kenka o utte iru kai?

   What, are you looking for / asking for a fight?

References