致す

Japanese

Etymology

From Old Japanese. Derived as the transitive/causative counterpart to intransitive verb 至る (itaru, “to come; to go; to reach a point in time or space; to result in”), originally meaning the same as causative conjugation 至らせる (itaraseru, “to make something or someone come or go; to make something reach a point in time or space; to cause a certain result”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いた​す (Nakadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Verb

致(いた)す • (itasu) transitive godan (stem 致(いた)し (itashi), past 致(いた)した (itashita))

1. to deliver; to send

   遠(とお)い祖国(そこく)に思(おも)いを致(いた)す

   tōi sokoku ni omoi o itasu

   I miss my homeland. (lit., I send my reminiscence to my homeland.)

2. to have an effect; to lead to a consequence, especially a bad one

   不徳(ふとく)の致(いた)すところ

   futoku no itasu tokoro

   the damage caused by my wrongdoing

3. (humble) to do: the humble version of 為る (suru)

   御指示(ごしじ)どおりに致(いた)します

   go shiji dōri ni itashimasu

   I will do as you ordered.

4. (slang) to masturbate
5. (slang) to have sex

Usage notes

In modern Japanese, this word is generally written in hiragana as いたす, with the kanji spelling used in more formal writing.

When speaking in formal situations, いたす is used in place of する by the speaker in deference to the listener. This is part of the subset of Japanese formal language (敬語 (keigo)) referred to as "humble" language (謙譲語 (kenjōgo)). This word has also found its way into certain common expressions, such as どういたしまして (dō itashimashite, “it's all right; you're welcome”).

Conjugation

References