大小

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Chinese

big; great; huge
big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor
 
small; tiny; few
small; tiny; few; young
 
simp. and trad.
(大小)

Pronunciation


Noun

大小

  1. big and small
  2. size (of dresses, shoes, etc.); proportions; dimensions; magnitude
  3. old and young; adults and children
  4. senior and junior; degree of seniority

Synonyms

Derived terms

Adverb

大小

  1. at any rate; anyway

Japanese

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大小 (daishō): two pairs of katana and wakizashi.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
だい
Grade: 1
しょう
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Compound of (dai, big, large) +‎ (shō, small, little).[1][2]

Pronunciation

Noun

(だい)(しょう) (daishō

  1. large and small
  2. daisho (a traditional Japanese pair of swords, consisting of the larger katana and smaller wakizashi)
  3. a pair of taiko drums, consisting of one large and one small taiko
  4. long months and short months:
    1. in the lunar calendar, long months of 30 days and short months of 29 days
    2. in the solar calendar, long months of 31 days and short months of 30 days or less

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
おお
Grade: 1

Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Appears to be a compound of Old Japanese-derived (ō, big) + (sa, small, rare reading). Alternatively, may be (ō, big) + (-sa, suffix indicating degree or amount).

Appears to be mostly obsolete in modern Japanese, superseded by the term 大きさ (ōkisa, size, literally bigness), from adjective 大きい (ōkii, big). The modern Japanese term with the reading of ōsa is 多さ (ōsa, literally much-ness, many-ness), from adjective 多い (ōi, many, much), deriving from the same Old Japanese root opo as 大きい (ōkii, big).

Pronunciation

Noun

(おお)() (ōsaおほさ (ofosa)?

  1. (probably obsolete) size
    • 東大寺諷誦文稿 (Tōdaiji Fujumonkō, Tōdai Temple Buddhist Prayer Manuscript) (in Japanese), Tokyo: 勉誠社 (Benseisha), 796–830, published 1976, →OCLC.
      大小(おほさ)(すずめ)(ごと)
      ohosa wa suzume no gotoshi
      The size was just like that of a sparrow.

References

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN