蕾
Meaning in Englishbud, flower bud
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
蕾 refers to the bud of a flower before it opens, representing the early, undeveloped stage of a blossom and often used metaphorically to signal potential and upcoming growth.
Main meanings
- literal sense: the bud of a flower before blooming
- metaphorical sense: a nascent stage indicating potential or upcoming development
- poetic usage: evokes spring, renewal, and anticipation in literature
How to use it
Used in botanical and everyday contexts to denote a flower bud before blooming; appropriate in formal writing and casual speech; common phrases include 蕾が膨らむ and 花の蕾, used to describe growth or anticipation.
Variants and close terms
- つぼみ — tsubomi
Composition
- 艹 upper: grass/plant radical
- lower: contributes to the idea of fullness and the unopened form
Etymology
Phonetic-semantic etymology: 蕾 combines the grass radical with a semantic-phonetic component that yields the botanical meaning, while the native Japanese reading つぼみ developed alongside kanji usage.
Origin
Origin: entered Japanese with the adoption of Chinese characters; attested in classical botanical writings and later integrated into everyday language as a standard term for flower buds.
Word class
Noun (名詞)