便所

Chinese

 
advantageous; cheap; ordinary
advantageous; cheap; ordinary; plain; convenient; handy; easy; then; so; thus; to relieve oneself
actually; place; (nominalization prefix)
simp. and trad.
(便所)
便

Etymology

Wasei kango (和製漢語), orthographically borrowed from Japanese 便(べん)(じょ) (benjo).[1]

Pronunciation


Note: pén-chiò - from Japanese pronunciation.

Noun

便所

  1. (chiefly Northeastern Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka) bathroom; restroom; lavatory; toilet
    便所佗位便所佗位 [Hokkien]   Piān-só͘ tī tah-ūi? [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]   where's the toilet?

Synonyms

References

  1. 汉语外来词词典 [Chinese Loanword Dictionary] (in Chinese), 1984, page 150

Japanese

Kanji in this term
便
べん
Grade: 4
しょ > じょ
Grade: 3
on’yomi

Etymology

Literally “place for convenience”.

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) んじょ [bèńjóꜜ] (Odaka – [3])[1]
  • IPA(key): [bẽ̞ɲ̟d͡ʑo̞]

Noun

便(べん)(じょ) • (benjo) 

  1. (dated) bathroom, restroom, lavatory, toilet
  2. (gambling slang) a pachinko machine one can use leftover balls on.

Usage notes

While up until the 1970s, this term or the honorific 便所(べんじょ) (o-benjo) was the preferred polite term to refer to a bathroom, it has now been largely replaced with 手洗(てあら) (o-tearai, washroom)—or even トイレ (toire, toilet)—and sounds dated if used.

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • 便所(べんじょ) (o-benjo)

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

Hanja in this term
便

Noun

便所 • (byeonso) (hangeul 변소)

  1. Hanja form? of 변소 (bathroom, restroom, lavatory, toilet).
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