営業
Meaning in Englishbusiness, sales, operation
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
What does 営業 mean? It denotes the activities of selling products or services and the overall function of bringing goods to customers; the term covers both the practice of sales and the broader business operations within a company.
Main meanings
- the primary sense is organized commercial activity, including selling, client outreach, and deal-making
- the department or role within a company responsible for sales and customer relations
- the broader concept of business operations and economic activity in a corporate context
How to use it
In formal business writing and signage, 営業 appears in phrases such as 営業をする, 営業部, and 営業時間; it is used for both the act of selling and as a label for the sales function within an organization.
Variants and close terms
- 販売活動 (hanbai katsudō) — sales activity
- 商売 (shōbai) — commerce, business
- 営業活動 (eigyō katsudō) — sales operations
- 事業運営 (jigyōunei) — business management/operations
Composition
- 営: to operate, to govern; conveys the sense of managing or directing business activities
- 業: work, business, industry; denotes the domain of activity or enterprise
Etymology
eigyō is the on'yomi reading of 営 and 業, forming a Sino-Japanese compound used to denote organized commercial activity; the phonetic form reflects standard kanji readings in Japanese.
Origin
During the Edo and Meiji periods, the term entered Japanese commercial vocabulary as a descriptor for organized business activity and later for modern corporate sales and operations.
Word class
noun (名詞)