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Definition 2024

馬子

馬子

See also: 马子

Chinese

horse
 
child; son; (noun suff.); small thing; midnight; 11 p.m.-1 a.m.; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch
trad. (馬子) 馬 子
simp. (马子) 马 子

Noun

馬子

  1. gambling chip
  2. nightstool; closestool; commode; toilet; chamber pot
  3. girlfriend

Synonyms

References

Japanese

Kanji in this term
馬 子
Grade: 2 Grade: 1

Noun

馬子 ‎(hiragana まご, romaji mago)

  1. packhorse driver
    馬子 (まご)にも衣装 (いしょう)
    mago ni mo ishō
    (proverb) the clothes make the man
    山 (やま)んばばあと馬子 (まご)どん
    Yamanbabā to mago don
    the Mountain-Witch and the Packhorse Driver, an Okinawan folktale

Proper noun

馬子 ‎(hiragana うまこ, romaji Umako)

  1. A male given name
    • 蘇我馬子 (Soga-no Umako) - famous leader of the Soga clan (died 626).

References

  • Jim Breen's 'EDICT'
  • The new Nelson Japanese-English character dictionary
  • NTC's New Japanese-English Dictionary
  • David Galef's book on proverbs "Even Monkeys Fall From Trees"
  • Daniel Crump Buchanan's book "Japanese Proverbs and Sayings"

Etymology

During the Han Dynasty, the emperor's commode was called 虎子 (hǔzi). However, the grandfather of Emperor Gaozu of Tang was called 李虎 (Lǐ Hǔ). Because it was forbidden for common items to contain the given names of members of the imperial family (see Naming taboo), 虎子 was changed to 馬子／马子, which morphed later into 馬桶／马桶 (mǎtǒng).

Pronunciation

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