茄子

茄子

1. eggplant; aubergine (Classifier: 根 m; 條／条 m c; 個／个 m c; 隻／只 m c)
2. (Qiaogang Cô Tô Cantonese) tomato

茄子

1. (chiefly Mandarin, when taking a photograph) cheese!

 ナス on Japanese Wikipedia

 Eggplant on Wikipedia

/nasubi/ → */nasubʉ/*/nasumɨ/ → /nasumʉ/ → /nasuː/ → /nasu/

First attested in the late 1400s, originally a nyōbō kotoba term.

Shift from nasubi below.

• (Tokyo) なす (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

茄子(なす) or 茄子(ナス) • (nasu) 

1. Solanum melongena, the eggplant or aubergine
2. a 茶入れ (chaire, “tea container”) in the shape of an eggplant

茄子(なす) • (Nasu) 

1. a surname

First attested in the Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE).

Various theories exist regarding the ultimate derivation:

• Shift from a compound of なす (nasu, “to become”, transitive) +‎ 実 (mi, “fruit”)
• Same as above, but with the なす part being a loanword or substrate word of Kra-Dai or Austronesian origin, compare Wu 落蘇／落苏 (⁸loq-su₁), Teochew 落蘇／落苏 (lag⁸ sou¹), Zhuang lwggwz and Paiwan (lasaras)
• Shift from 夏の実 (natsu no mi, literally “summer fruit”).

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Orthographic borrowing from Chinese 茄子 (qiézi).

• (Tokyo) なすび (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

茄子(なすび) or 茄子(ナスビ) • (nasubi) 

1. (archaic) Solanum melongena, the eggplant or aubergine
2. (archaic) a 茶入れ (chaire, “tea container”) in the shape of an eggplant
3. (figurative) poverty, destitution

   from the inexpensiveness of eggplants even the impoverished can eat

4. a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with designs of eggplant fruits, flowers, and leaves