馳走

Uncertain. May be from unattested Middle Chinese 馳走 (MC drje tsuwX|tsuwH, “rushing, galloping + running”), or may have been coined in Japanese from Middle Chinese-derived roots as a compound of 馳 (chi, “hurrying, rushing”) +‎ 走 (sō, “running”). Compare Korean 치주 (chiju, “running and going”).

First attested in a text from 1096.^[1]

• (Tokyo) ちそー (Heiban – )^[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key):

馳(ち)走(そう) • (chisō) 

1. (archaic) running around

   Synonyms: 奔走 (honsō), 走り回り (hashiri-mawari)

2. (archaic) (by extension, from running around for someone else) looking after someone or something, taking care of someone or something

   Synonym: 世話 (sewa)

3. (by extension, from running around making preparations) hospitality, particularly: an entertainment, a banquet, a feast, treating someone to a meal

   ご馳走様(ちそうさま)でした

   go-chisō-sama deshita

   it was delicious (a stock phrase required by Japanese etiquette, literally “it was a feast”)

馳(ち)走(そう)する • (chisō suru) suru (stem 馳(ち)走(そう)し (chisō shi), past 馳(ち)走(そう)した (chisō shita))

1. (archaic) to run around

   Synonyms: 奔走する (honsō suru), 走り回る (hashiri-mawaru)

2. (archaic) (by extension, from running around for someone else) to look after someone or something, to take care of someone or something

   Synonyms: 世話をする (sewa o suru), 面倒を見る (mendō o miru)

3. (by extension, from running around making preparations) to provide entertainment, to host a banquet or feast, to treat someone to a meal

   馳(ち)走(そう)されてありがとう。

   Chisō sarete arigatō.

   Thanks for treating me (to a meal).

• Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN