買う
Meaning in Englishto buy
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
What does 買う mean? It denotes the act of obtaining goods or services by paying money; a transitive verb used to express acquiring something in exchange for money, typically referring to consumer purchases.
Main meanings
- Basic purchase: acquiring a tangible item or service for oneself or someone else.
- Broader shopping context: used in everyday commerce, including online purchases.
- Figurative or extended uses: can imply procuring or securing things like tickets or opportunities in certain contexts.
How to use it
Used as a transitive verb with a direct object marked by を; polite form 買います, past 買った; common in shopping contexts, both in physical stores and online; also appears in compounds like 買い替える to replace by buying anew and 買い物をする to go shopping.
Variants and close terms
- 購⼊する (kounyuu suru) — to purchase; romaji: kounyuu suru
- 買い物をする (kaimono o suru) — to go shopping; romaji: kaimono o suru
- 仕入れる (shiireru) — to stock/procure; romaji: shiireru
- 売る (uru) — to sell; romaji: uru
Composition
- 貝 radical: money, shells used as currency
- 買: semantic core of purchase; phonetic cue suggests sound
- う: okurigana marking the verb inflection
Etymology
Phono-semantic compound with semantic 貝 (shell money, commerce) indicating the buy/sell domain, and a phonetic cue guiding the modern kun reading kau; the on'yomi reading bai appears in compounds under Chinese influence.
Origin
Old Japanese evidence shows 買う as a basic verb for exchanging money for goods, reflecting the emergence of market exchange as coinage and merchant networks expanded in classical periods; the concept solidified through Heian to Edo-era commerce and everyday shopping practice.
Word class
verb (五段動詞)