任す
Meaning in Englishto entrust, to leave to a person
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
任す means to entrust or leave something to someone else; it conveys handing over responsibility or decision-making to another person, often in formal or literary contexts, and is closely related to 任せる though more archaic or succinct.
Main meanings
- To entrust a person with responsibility or a task, thereby delegating control or decision-making.
- To leave something to another's care or discretion, typically in formal usage.
- In fixed idioms, to surrender or defer to fate or a higher power, as in 天に任す.
How to use it
Usage: Typically attaches to particles like に or を to mark the entrusted object and recipient; common in formal or literary prose and in historical or philosophical discourse, with limited use in everyday conversation where 任せる is preferred.
Variants and close terms
- 任せる (makaseru) — more common, to entrust; informal to formal range
- 委ねる (yudaneru) — to entrust or defer to someone’s discretion
- 託す (takusu) — to entrust, consign, or entrust with belongings
Composition
- 任: conveys responsibility or duty, serving as the semantic core of entrusting
- す: verb-ending that turns the concept into a verb meaning 'to do' or 'to perform' in the sense of carrying out entrustment
Etymology
makasu derives from the kun-reading of 任 combined with the verb ending す; it is a native Japanese development rather than a loanword, reflecting the concept of entrusting within traditional verb formation.
Origin
Origin: Found in classical Japanese texts and maintained in literary and legal registers; usage persists in fixed phrases and formal writing, though rarer in casual speech.
Word class
verb (動詞・五段), godan verb with the す ending