三日天下

Japanese

Kanji in this term
三	日	天	下
みっ Grade: 1	か Grade: 1	てん > でん Grade: 1	か Grade: 1
kun'yomi		on'yomi

Kanji in this term
三	日	天	下
みっ Grade: 1	か Grade: 1	てん Grade: 1	か Grade: 1
kun'yomi		on'yomi

Etymology

From 三日 (mikka, “three days”) +‎ 天下 (tenka, “all under heaven, the whole world, the country”). The tenka changes to denka as an instance of rendaku (連濁) in the reading みっかでんか (mikkadenka).

Originally referred to the short-lived regime of Akechi Mitsuhide during the Sengoku period:^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] soon after he killed Oda Nobunaga and took his position of shōgun (将軍) during the Honnoji Incident, he was chased and defeated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, before he was finally killed by local bandits. 三日 (mikka, literally “three days”) figuratively represents a short time; Mitsuhide's regime actually lasted eleven days.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) みっかてんか [mìkkátéꜜǹkà] (Nakadaka – [4])^[2]^[6]^[7]
IPA^(key): [mʲik̚ka̠tẽ̞ŋka̠]

(Tokyo) みっかでんか [mìkkádéꜜǹkà] (Nakadaka – [4])
IPA^(key): [mʲik̚ka̠dẽ̞ŋka̠]

Noun

三(みっ)日(か)天(てん)下(か) or 三(みっ)日(か)天(でん)下(か) • (mikkatenka or mikkadenka)

a short-lived regime
being in power over a very short time

References

^ Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Kitahara, Yasuo, editor (2002), 明鏡国語辞典 [Meikyō Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[K-1] Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJS-3] Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[KDJ-4] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[M-5] Kitahara, Yasuo, editor (2002), 明鏡国語辞典 [Meikyō Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN

[SMK5-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-7] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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