寝粉

Japanese

Kanji in this term
寝	粉
ね Grade: S	こ Grade: 5
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
寢粉 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

First cited to a text from 1788.^[1]

Appears to be a compound of 寝 (ne, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of 寝る (neru, “to sleep”)) +‎ 粉 (ko, “flour; powder”), from the way that that rice that sits for a long time goes bad.

The sense of "indissoluble grains of dissolved udon flour" has been hypothesized to be a contraction of 陳粉 (hine-ko, literally “old + flour”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ねこ [nèkó] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]
(Tokyo) ねこ [néꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [ne̞ko̞]

Noun

寝(ね)粉(こ) • (neko)

[from 1788] (cooking) flour that is too old to be used or eaten (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
[unknown] indissoluble grains formed from dissolved udon flour in water (whether boiled or not) (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “ね‐こ【寝粉】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ2O-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 “ね‐こ【寝粉】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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