めだけ

Japanese

Alternative spellings
女竹 雌竹

Etymology

From 女(め) (me, “female”) + 竹(たけ) (take, “bamboo”). The take changes to dake as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) めだけ [méꜜdàkè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [me̞da̠ke̞]

Noun

めだけ or メダケ • (medake) ^{←めだけ (medake)?}

1. Pleioblastus simonii, a bamboo used in crafts and pre-modern construction.

Usage notes

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).

Coordinate terms

• おだけ (odake, literally “male bamboo”)