御中

Alternative forms

• お腹, 御腹 (only for the belly senses; more common spelling)
• お中

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) おなか [ònáká] (Heiban – [0])^[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [o̞na̠ka̠]

Noun

御中 (hiragana おなか, rōmaji onaka)

1. Alternative spelling of お腹: belly, tummy, stomach, abdomen
2. a meal, especially of rice (from the way that the main serving dish would be placed in the 中 (naka, “middle”) of the table)
3. cotton batting (from the way that batting was used in the 中 (naka, “inside”) of cushions and quilts)
4. (historical) the title of a maid working in the inner part of a samurai family's house during the Muromachi period

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
  • (Tokyo) お​んちゅう [óꜜǹchùù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2][3]
  • IPA^(key): [õ̞ɲ̟t͡ɕɨᵝː]

Pronoun

御中 (hiragana おんちゅう, rōmaji onchū)

1. (formal) dear sirs, Messrs. (form of address used in formal letters, placed after the name of the organization to address members of that organization)

   三菱重工 (みつびしじゅうこう)御 (おん)中 (ちゅう)…

   Mitsubishi Jūkō onchū…

   Messrs. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / Dear sirs at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries […]

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
  • IPA^(key): [o̞t͡ɕɨᵝː]

Noun

御中 (hiragana おちゅう, rōmaji ochū)

1. (historical) a kind of hairstyle worn by women of the nobility in the late Edo period as a simplification of the 大垂髪 (ōsuberakashi) style, with no 簪 (kanzashi, “ornamental hairpin”) or other adornment, and with the long hair of an additional hairpiece allowed to hang loose in back