明日

Chinese

Pronunciation

Noun

明日

1. (literary or dialectal) tomorrow

   • 醉後來好好走入夢中　明日醒來猶原是一尾活龍 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     醉后来好好走入梦中　明日醒来犹原是一尾活龙 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 謝雷, lyrics by 陳百潭, 酒國英雄

     chùi āu lâi hó-hó kiâⁿ ji̍p bāng-tiong, bêng-li̍t chhíⁿ-lâi iu-goân sī chi̍t bóe oa̍h-liông [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     After getting drunk, will walk well into my dream, and tomorrow, when wake up, am still a lively dragon.

2. (literary, figurative) future

Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology 1

Shift in meaning from 朝 (ashita, “next morning”), itself cognate with 朝 (asa, “morning”).

The kanji spelling is from Chinese 明日 (míngrì).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あした​ (Odaka – ) as a noun
• (Tokyo) あした (Heiban – ) as an adverb
• IPA^(key):

• (Kyoto) あした (Kōki - )

Noun

明日(あした) • (ashita) 

1. (colloquial) tomorrow

   明日(あした)は雨(あめ)ですね。

   Ashita wa ame desu ne.

   It seems like it will rain tomorrow.

   明日(あした)の夕方(ゆうがた)

   ashita no yūgata

   tomorrow evening

Derived terms

• 明日(あした)天(てん)気(き) (ashita tenki)
• 明日(アシタ)葉(バ), 鹹草(アシタバ) (ashitaba, “Angelica keiskei”)

Proverbs

• 明日(あした)は明日(あした)の風(かぜ)が吹(ふ)く (ashita wa ashita no kaze ga fuku, “tomorrow let tomorrow's winds blow → tomorrow is a new day”)

Proper noun

明日(あした) • (Ashita) 

1. a female given name

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).

Various theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation:

• Possibly a shift from verb 明かす (akasu, “to pass”).

  */akasu/ → */akusu/ → /asu/

• Possibly an apophonic form of or cognate with 朝 (asa, “morning”).

The kanji spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese 明日 (míngrì).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あす​ (Odaka – ) as a noun
• (Tokyo) あす (Heiban – ) as an adverb
• IPA^(key):

• (Kyoto) あ​す (Kōki - )

Noun

明日(あす) • (asu) 

1. (polite) tomorrow
   • 1939, 太宰治(だざいおさむ) [Dazai Osamu], 女生徒(じょせいと) (Joseito)‎:

     明日(あす)もまた、同(おな)じ日(ひ)が来(く)るのだろう。幸(こう)福(ふく)は一(いっ)生(しょう)、来(こ)ないのだ。それは、わかっている。けれども、きっと来(く)る、あすは来(く)る、と信(しん)じて寝(ね)るのがいいのでしょう。

     Asu mo mata, onaji hi ga kuru no darō. Kōfuku wa isshō, konai no da. Sore wa, wakatteiru. Keredo mo, kitto kuru, asu wa kuru, to shinjite neru no ga ii no deshō.

     The same day will probably come tomorrow again, just like always. True happiness will never come into my life. I know that. But perhaps it is best to go to sleep believing that it will come, that it will come tomorrow.

2. the near future

Derived terms

Proverbs

• 明日(あす)の事(こと)を言(い)えば鬼(おに)が笑(わら)う (asu no koto o ieba oni ga warau)
• 明日(あす)の百(ひゃく)より今日(きょう)の五(ご)十(じゅう) (asu no hyaku yori kyō no gojū)
• 今日(きょう)あって明日(あす)ない身(み) (kyō atte asu nai mi)
• 今日(きょう)の一(ひと)針(はり)明日(あす)の十(と)針(はり) (kyō no hitohari asu no tohari)

Proper noun

明日(あす) • (asu) 

1. a female given name

Etymology 3

/mʲau nʲiti/ → /mʲɔːɲit͡ɕi/ → /mʲoːɲit͡ɕi/

From Middle Chinese compound 明日 (MC mjaeng nyit).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) みょ​ーにち (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

明(みょう)日(にち) • (myōnichi) ^{←みやうにち (myauniti)?}

1. (formal) tomorrow

Derived terms

• 今(こん)明(みょう)日(にち) (konmyōnichi)
• 大(だい)明(みょう)日(にち) (daimyōnichi)

Etymology 4

From a later borrowing of Chinese 明日 (míngrì), using the 漢音 (kan'on, literally “Han sound”).

Rare reading.

Noun

明(めい)日(じつ) • (meijitsu) 

1. (rare) tomorrow

Etymology 5

Proper noun

明日(ぬくい) or 明(あけ)日(ひ) or 明(みょう)日(が) or 明(ぬく)日(ひ) or 明(あけ)日(び) • (Nukui or Akehi or Myōga or Nukuhi or Akebi) 

1. a surname

Usage notes

Note that the pronunciation differs depending on register, which also happens for the antonym “yesterday” and the coordinate term “today”. Corresponding in formality to ashita, asu, and myōnichi for “tomorrow” are 昨日 (kinō), 昨日 (kiso, rare), and 昨日 (sakujitsu) for “yesterday”; and きょう (kyō), 今日 (konnichi), and 本日 (honjitsu) for “today”.

Antonyms

• 昨日(きのう) (kinō), 昨日(さくじつ) (sakujitsu), 昨日(きそ) (kiso, “yesterday”)

Coordinate terms

See also

• 明(あ)くる日(ひ) (akuruhi, “next day”)
• 翌(よく)日(じつ) (yokujitsu, “next day”)
• 明(あ)き日(び) (akibi)

References

Korean

Noun

明日 • (myeong'il) (hangeul 명일)

1. Hanja form^? of 명일 (“tomorrow”).

Okinawan

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 明日 (ashita).

Noun

明日(あちゃー) (achā) 

1. tomorrow

Old Japanese

Etymology

Possibly from an as- root that is cognate with or from an apophonic form of 朝 (asa, “morning”).

Noun

明日 (asu) (kana あす)

1. tomorrow
   • 711–712, Kojiki, (poem 112):

     意岐米母夜阿布美能於岐米阿須用理波美夜麻賀久理弖美延受加母阿良牟

     Oki₁me₂ mo₂ ya Apumi₁ no₂ Oki₁me₂ asu yo₁ri pa mi₁yama-gakurite mi₁yezu ka mo₂ aramu

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:明日.

Coordinate terms

• きのふ (ki₁no₂pu, “yesterday”)
• けふ (ke₁pu, “today”)

Derived terms

• 明日香 (Asuka)

Descendants

• Japanese: 明日 (asu)