有り難し

Japanese

Kanji in this term

Grade: 3
かた > がた
Grade: 6
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
(kyūjitai)

Etymology

ari + katashi > arigatashi. Compound of 有り (ari, is, are, in adverbial form) +‎ 難し (katashi, difficult). The katashi changes to gatashi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).. The original meaning was "difficult to be".

Adjective

()(がた) • (arigatashi-ku

  1. difficult to be
  2. rare
  3. special; worthy of being thankful for

Usage notes

This term is often spelled in kana.

Inflection

See also