幸せ

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
しあわ
Grade: 3
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings

仕合せ
仕合わせ
倖せ

Etymology

The 連用形 (ren'yōkei, continuative or stem form) of verb 為合わす, 仕合わす (shiawasu, to put together well; to work together well, lower bigrade, with continuative form ending in -e), itself a compound of Old Japanese verbs (su, to do, to make something be a certain way) + 合わす (awasu, to join together, to fit together).

Often spelled 幸せ with the final to indicate the reading.

Pronunciation

Adjective

(しあわ) (shiawaseしあはせ (siafase)?-na (adnominal (しあわ) (shiawase na), adverbial (しあわ) (shiawase ni))

  1. happy
    • 2003 April 22, Kenshi Hirokane, “STEP2 さよならはダンスの後に [Step 2: Only Say Goodbye after the Dance]”, in ヤング島耕作 [Young Shima Kōsaku], volume 1 (fiction), Tōkyō: Kōdansha, →ISBN, page 49:
      (なか)()(せん)(ぱい)
      (なに)
      (しあわ)になって(くだ)さい
      Nakai-senpai
      Nani?
      Shiawase ni natte kudasai
      Nakai Senpai
      Yeah?
      I wish you happiness
  2. fortunate, lucky

Inflection

See also

Noun

(しあわ) (shiawaseしあはせ (siafase)?

  1. a moment when circumstances come together: fate, opportunity (used to indicate both good and bad instances)
    Synonyms: 運命 (unmei, fate), 機会 (kikai, opportunity)
  2. happiness
    Synonym: 幸福 (kōfuku)
  3. good fortune, good luck
    Synonyms: 幸い (saiwai), 幸運 (kōun)
  4. circumstances, the flow of events
    Synonym: 経緯 (ikisatsu)

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
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN