香具師

Japanese

Kanji in this term
香	具	師
やし
Grade: 4	Grade: 3	Grade: 5
irregular

Kanji in this term
香	具	師
かう Grade: 4	ぐ Grade: 3	し Grade: 5
irregular	on'yomi	on'yomi

Kanji in this term
香	具	師
こう Grade: 4	ぐ Grade: 3	し Grade: 5
on'yomi

Etymology 1

There are various theories about its origin.

1. From omitting of く (ku) from 薬(やく)師(し) (yakushi, “medicine seller”).
2. From omitting of ま (ma) from 山(やま)師(し) (yamashi, “fraud”).
3. From omitting of 武(ぶ) (bu) from 野(や)武(ぶ)士(し) (yabushi, “wild samurai”). Yabushi sold medicine due to their poorness.
4. From omitting of 郎(ろう) (rō) from 弥(や)四(し)郎(ろう) (Yashirō). Yashirō was the personal name of a successful medicine-seller; others called themselves Yashi after his success.

Alternative forms

Following alternative forms are used for historical usage only.

• 野(や)師(し) (yashi)
• 野(や)士(し) (yashi)
• 弥(や)四(し) (yashi)
• 矢(や)師(し) (yashi)
• 弥(や)四(し) (yashi)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ja̠ɕi]

• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːɡɯ̟ɕi]

• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɯ̟ɡɯ̟ɕi]

Noun

香具師(やし) or 香(こう)具(ぐ)師(し) or 香(かう)具(ぐ)師(し) • (yashi or kōgushi or kaugushi) 

1. person who makes or sells incense
2. (historical) person who gathers people with one's performance and sells medicine or incense on festival day, day of an event, or other special day [18c]
3. person who sells food or provides entertainment on temporary market stall on festival day, day of an event, or other special day

Synonyms

• 的(てき)屋(や) (tekiya), テキ屋(や) (tekiya)
• 露(ろ)天(てん)商(しょう) (rotenshō)

Related terms

• やくざ (yakuza)

Etymology 2

Form of ヤシ (yashi) is similar to ヤツ (yatsu, “guy”) (katakana form of 奴) and やし can be converted to 香具師(やし) (yashi) with Japanese input method.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ja̠ɕi]

Noun

香具師(やし) • (yashi) 

1. (2channel slang, dated) Eye dialect spelling of 奴 (yatsu, “guy”).