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【No. 1705】Ibitsu (いびつ - Distorted)

Aug 20, 2019 11:41
Ibitsu

A distorted or awkward shape is described as ibitsu (いびつ/歪) in Japanese.

Ibitsu comes from iibitsu (飯櫃), which was once used in many houses in Japan.

Ii (飯) means "rice" and bitsu/hitsu (櫃) means "container," so iibitsu means "container for (cooked) rice."

Since the shape of iibitsu was usually ellipse, it came to mean also "elliptical shape."

Furthermore, iibitsu came to mean that the shape/state/property of something is distorted.

For example, ibitsu na kokoro (いびつな心 - its literal meaning is "distorted mind") means "twisted mind."
いびつ

形がゆがんでいることを、「いびつ(歪)」と言います。

「いびつ」は、かつて多くの家庭で使われていた「飯櫃(いいびつ)」から来ています。

「飯」は "rice" を、「櫃」は "container" を意味し、「飯櫃」は炊いた飯を入れておくお櫃のことを意味します。

飯櫃は楕円形のものが主流であったため、「飯櫃」は楕円形を意味するようになりました。

さらに、形や状態がゆがんでいるという意味を持つようになったというわけです。

例えば、"mind" を意味する「心」につけて「いびつな心」とすると、"twisted mind" という意味になります。

Corrections (1)

No. 1 Star
  • Ibitsu (いびつ - Distorted)
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Ibitsu
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • A distorted or awkward shape is described as 'ibitsu' (いびつ/歪) in Japanese.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • 'Ibitsu' comes from 'iibitsu' (飯櫃), which was once used in many houses in Japan.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • 'Ii' (飯) means "rice" and 'bitsu/hitsu' (櫃) means "container," so 'iibitsu' means "container for (cooked) rice."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • Since the shape of 'iibitsu' was usually ellipse, it came to mean also "elliptical shape."
  • Since the shape of 'iibitsu' was usually an ellipse, it came to mean also "elliptical shape."

    You can also say the shape of 'iibitsu' was usually elliptical. This way turns it into an adjective used to describe the shape.

  • Furthermore, 'iibitsu' came to mean that the shape/state/property of something is distorted.
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
  • For example, 'ibitsu na kokoro' (いびつな心 - its literal meaning is "distorted mind") means "twisted mind."
  • This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!

面白い!Very interesting!

Toru
Thank you for the correction! (^^)

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