肥後守

Japanese

Kanji in this term
肥	後	守
ひ Grade: 5	ご(の) Grade: 2	かみ Grade: 3
kan'on	kan'yōon	kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
肥後の守

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

肥後守

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Higonokami

Wikipedia

Etymology

Compound of 肥後 (Higo, “Higo Province”, corresponding to modern Kumamoto Prefecture) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 守 (kami, “governor (of a province)”). Coined as part of the Ritsuryō system of the late 600s and early 700s.

The knife sense arose from this term being used as a trademark for a specific brand of pocketknife, originally produced by former swordmakers in Kumamoto Prefecture.^[1] This brand name then became used for this style of pocketknife in general (compare usage of English kleenex or aspirin). This sense is first cited in 1931.^[2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ひごのかみ [hìgó nóꜜ kàmì] (Nakadaka – [3])^[3]
IPA^(key): [çiɡo̞ no̞ ka̠mʲi]

Noun

肥(ひ)後(ごの)守(かみ) • (Higo no Kami)

[from late 600s or early 700s] (history, government) the Governor of Higo
[from 1931] a type of Japanese folding pocketknife

References

^ “肥後守”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
^ “肥後守”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DDJS-1] “肥後守”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎^[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months

[KDJ2-2] “肥後守”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

[DJR-3] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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