Word
Kana: しんくう Romaji: shinkuu Level: N2

真空

Meaning in English

vacuum

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Dictionary

Word context

What it means

What does 真空 mean? It means vacuum — a condition or space with very low pressure and minimal matter present; in practice it refers to environments or containers where air and particles have been removed to achieve near-empty conditions for scientific, industrial, or manufacturing purposes.

Main meanings

  • 1. Technical environments created by pumps and chambers used in experiments and manufacturing to reduce pressure and remove air.
  • 2. Components or products that operate under reduced pressure conditions, such as vacuum tubes or vacuum-sealed packaging.
  • 3. Figurative use describing an absence, gap, or void in non-physical contexts (e.g., a conceptual or social vacuum).

How to use it

Appears in scientific papers, engineering specifications, product descriptions, and everyday compound terms; common in formal technical and academic contexts but also used in commercial labeling and casual explanations when describing sealed packaging or laboratory equipment without requiring specialized grammar.

Variants and close terms

  • 真空状態 (shinkuu joutai) — vacuum state
  • 真空パック (shinkuu pakku) — vacuum-packed (packaging)
  • 真空管 (shinkuu kan) — vacuum tube
  • 大気 (taiki) — atmosphere (antonym)

Composition

  • 真 (shin) — true, real; conveys authenticity or genuineness.
  • 空 (kuu) — empty, sky, space; denotes emptiness or a void.

Origin

The modern scientific meaning of the term became widespread during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as Western physics and engineering were translated into Japanese during the Meiji era; the word entered technical vocabulary alongside industrial adoption of vacuum technology.

Word class

noun (名詞)

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