あく

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spelling
灰汁

Likely derived from verb 飽きる・厭きる・倦きる (akiru), older form 飽く・厭く・倦く (aku, “to be full up; to be fully done; to tire of something, to have too much of something”).

First cited to the 古今和歌集 (Kokin Wakashū) of the early 900s, where the term is used as a pun for the verb.

The senses related to flavor and harshness arose from the practice of using lye in food processing to remove unpleasant flavors.

The kanji spelling 灰汁 is an example of jukujikun, using the characters for 灰 (“ash”) and 汁 (“broth”) in reference to the practice of leaching wood ash in water to derive lye.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あく [àkú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [a̠kɯ̟]

Noun

あく • (aku) 

1. [from early 900s] lye, originally the clear alkaline liquid left after leaching wood ash in water
   • 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 19, poem 1044)

     紅(くれなゐ)に染(そ)めし心(こころ)もたのまれず人(ひと)をあくにはうつる蝶(てふ)なり

     kurenai ni someshi kokoro mo tanomarezu hito o aku ni wa utsuru tefu nari

     (please add an English translation of this example)

     [Note: This aku is also a pun on the verb 飽く (aku, “to tire of something”).]

2. scum, the coagulated proteins and fats that gather on the surface of a pot of boiling food
3. [from 1700] components contained in vegetables that impart an acrid, astringent, or harsh flavor

   灰汁(あく)が強(つよ)い、灰汁(あく)を抜(ぬ)く

   aku ga tsuyoi, aku o nuku

   harshness is strong → strongly unpleasant [flavor], remove the harshness [as from vegetables]

4. [from 1909] アク: (by extension from the "flavor" sense) harshness as a characteristic of one's personality

   アクの強(つよ)い男性(だんせい)

   aku no tsuyoi dansei

   a man with a harsh / overly strong / forceful / pushy personality

Derived terms

• あくどい (akudoi, “gaudy, excessively garish; wily, unscrupulous, vicious”)

Etymology 2

Various kanji readings.

For pronunciation and definitions of あく – see the following entries.

【開く】 [verb] to open [verb] to begin

【空く】 [verb] have space between, be open [verb] become empty, unoccupied, vacated [verb] become unused, free [verb] become free (not busy) [verb] become open (of a job etc.)

【明く】 [verb] Alternative form of 開く [verb] open one's eyes or mouth [verb] for one's collar etc. to be open

【飽く】 [verb] (archaic or literary) to tire of [verb] (archaic) to be satisfied Alternative spellings 厭く, 倦く

【厭く】 [verb] (archaic) to tire of [verb] to be satisfied

【倦く】 [verb] (archaic) to tire of [verb] to be satisfied

【悪】3 [noun] evil, wickedness [affix] evil, vice, ill, wrong [affix] bad; disagreeable; unpleasant; undesirable; [affix] inferior; ugly [affix] fierce; vicious

【握】S [affix] grip; hold

(This term, あく (aku), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as あく, see Category:Japanese kanji read as あく.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 亜久, 阿久, 渥, 安久, 吾久, 愛玖, 愛紅.)