Word
木材
Meaning in Englishlumber, timber, wood
Animated kanji stroke order
Sentence
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Word context
What it means
木材 means lumber or timber—the material derived from trees used in construction, carpentry, and manufacturing.
Main meanings
- Primary meaning as a material: lumber or timber used in building, carpentry, and manufacturing
- Industrial and technical contexts often refer to 木材 as raw wood material rather than finished wood
- The term is distinct from 木 (wood in a living or general sense) and from 材木, another common term for timber
How to use it
Used in formal, technical, and commercial contexts to refer to the wood material in construction, manufacturing, and supply chain discussions; in casual speech, 木材 is less common and speakers may say 木 or 材木 depending on emphasis.
Variants and close terms
- 材木 (zaimoku) — lumber, timber; common in construction contexts
- 木質材料 (mokushitsu zairyō) — wood-based material; more technical
Composition
- 木: tree/wood—the core semantic field of the word
- 材: material; timber; the second element specifying the kind of material
Etymology
木 (ki, tree/wood) + 材 (zai, material; lumber) combine to form 木材, a native Japanese compound meaning timber or lumber; there is no foreign loanword involved.
Word class
noun (名詞)
Word
Related words by kanji and components
N2
材木
zaimoku
lumber, timber
N1
土木
doboku
public works
N1
教材
kyouzai
teaching materials
N1
樹木
jumoku
trees and shrubs, arbor
N1
人材
jinzai
man of talent
N1
雑木
zouki
various kinds of small trees, assorted trees
N1
素材
sozai
raw materials, subject matter
N1
取材
shuzai
coverage, collecting data
N2
植木
ueki
garden shrubs, trees, potted plant
Kanji