御中

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
御	中
お Grade: S	なか Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
お中

Compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 中 (naka, “inside; middle”). Originally coined as a 女房詞 (nyōbō kotoba, “woman's word”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おなか [ònáká] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [o̞na̠ka̠]

Noun

御(お)中(なか) • (onaka) 

1. a meal, especially of rice (from the way that the main serving dish would be placed in the 中 (naka, “middle”) of the table)
2. cotton batting (from the way that batting was used in the 中 (naka, “inside”) of cushions and quilts)
3. (historical) the title of a maid working in the inner part of a samurai family's house during the Muromachi period

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
御	中
おん Grade: S	ちゅう Grade: 1
yutōyomi

Compound of 御 (on-, honorific prefix) +‎ 中 (chū, “inside; middle”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) お​んちゅう [óꜜǹchùù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [õ̞ɲ̟t͡ɕɨᵝː]

Pronoun

御(おん)中(ちゅう) • (onchū) 

1. (formal) dear sirs, Messrs. (form of address used in formal letters, placed after the name of the organization to address members of that organization)

   三菱(みつびし)重工(じゅうこう)御中(おんちゅう)…

   Mitsubishi Jūkō onchū…

   Messrs. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / Dear sirs at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries […]

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
御	中
お Grade: S	ちゅう Grade: 1
yutōyomi

Compound of 御 (o-, honorific prefix) +‎ 中 (chū, “inside; middle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [o̞t͡ɕɨᵝː]

Noun

御(お)中(ちゅう) • (ochū) 

1. (historical) a kind of hairstyle worn by women of the nobility in the late Edo period as a simplification of the 大垂髪 (ōsuberakashi) style, with no 簪 (kanzashi, “ornamental hairpin”) or other adornment, and with the long hair of an additional hairpiece allowed to hang loose in back

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
御	中
お Grade: S	なか Grade: 1
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 御中 – see the following entry.

【お腹なか】 [noun] belly, tummy, stomach, abdomen Alternative spelling 御腹

(This term, 御中, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)