目覚まし

Japanese
Kanji in this term
目 覚
め
Grade: 1		 さ > ざ
Grade: 4
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

Etymology

Compound of 目 (me, “eye”) +‎ 覚まし (samashi, “clearing one's eyes or mind of sleep, confusion, etc.”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 覚ます (samasu, “to clear one's mind or eyes”)).[1][2][3] The samashi changes to zamashi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

Noun

目覚まし (hiragana めざまし, rōmaji mezamashi, alternative reading めさまし, rōmaji mesamashi)

  1. waking, waking up (either waking oneself, or waking someone else)
  2. a kind of sweet given to children waking up
    Synonyms: お目覚 (omeza), お目覚まし (omezamashi)
  3. Short for 目覚まし時計 (“alarm clock”).

Usage notes
  • The mezamashi reading appears to be more common than mesamashi.[1][2][3]
  • Not to be confused with 目覚ましい (mezamashii, “wonderful, brilliant, striking”, adjective).

Derived terms

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
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