食器
Meaning in Englishtableware
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
What does 食器 mean? It means tableware, the vessels used to eat or serve food, including plates, bowls, cups, and related items; it denotes the category of dining vessels rather than individual utensils such as chopsticks or spoons.
Main meanings
- Primary meaning: tableware, the vessels used for eating and serving food.
- Broader sense: the dining vessels as a category, not including eating implements like chopsticks.
- In commerce and catalogs, it can refer to a complete set of dishes rather than a single item.
How to use it
Used in everyday conversation, menus, catalogs, and dining-related discourse to refer to dishes and bowls collectively; in formal writing it may denote the category of tableware or specific subsets like sets, and it generally excludes eating implements such as 箸 or spoons.
Variants and close terms
- 皿, sara — plate
- 器, utsuwa — vessel (container)
- 食器セット, shokki setto — tableware set
- 食器類, shokkirui — tableware items
Composition
- 食: eat, meal
- 器: vessel, container
- Together they form a compound meaning vessels used for eating at the table.
Etymology
食 = eat; 器 = vessel; combined as 食器 refers to vessels used for eating; the pronunciation しょっき (shokki) arises as a standard on'yomi compound from Chinese readings.
Origin
The concept of dedicated vessels for meals has long existed in Japanese culture, and the term 食器 came into common use in modern times as households and retailers standardized and discussed dining ware; its usage expanded with Meiji-era globalization of tableware and catalogs.
Word class
noun (名詞)