玄関
Meaning in Englishentrance, entryway
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
玄関 (genkan) means the entrance or entryway of a building; it designates the specific space immediately inside the front door that serves as the transition zone between outside and the interior.
Main meanings
- Architectural foyer or vestibule used to denote a small interior space before the main rooms.
- The main or principal entrance of a public building, used in formal descriptions.
- A metonym for the act or point of entry into a place, used figuratively in speech or writing.
- In property listings, a term indicating the presence and sometimes size/layout of the entry area.
How to use it
Common in everyday speech, signage and written descriptions, the term applies to homes, apartments, offices, shops and schools; it appears in casual directions (telling someone where to wait or meet) and in formal contexts such as real estate listings or building plans to indicate the entry area and its layout.
Variants and close terms
- 入口 (iriguchi) — general entrance, doorway
- 玄関口 (genkanguchi) — entrance gate or entry point (more formal)
- 土間 (doma) — traditional earthen entry area, older term related to entry
- 正面玄関 (shoumen genkan) — main/front entrance
Composition
- 玄 (gen): originally conveys 'mysterious' or 'profound' in other compounds but here functions as the first element of the word.
- 関 (kan): means a barrier, gate, or checkpoint; combined the two characters form the lexical unit referring to an entrance or gateway into a building.
Origin
The concept stems from traditional Japanese domestic architecture where a distinct threshold area developed from older earthen-floor entries (doma); over the Edo and Meiji periods the recessed or defined entry space became standardized and continued into modern houses and public buildings as a formalized place marking the entrance.
Word class
noun (名詞)