Likely derived from verb 飽きる・厭きる・倦きる (akiru), older form 飽く・厭く・倦く (aku, “to be full up; to be fully done; to tire of something, to have too much of something”).[1]
First cited to the 古今和歌集 (Kokin Wakashū) of the early 900s,[2] where the term is used as a pun for the verb.[1]
The senses related to flavor and harshness arose from the practice of using lye in food processing to remove unpleasant flavors.[1]
The kanji spelling 灰汁 is an example of jukujikun, using the characters for 灰 (“ash”) and 汁 (“broth”) in reference to the practice of leaching wood ash in water to derive lye.
あく • (aku)
- [from early 900s] lye, originally the clear alkaline liquid left after leaching wood ash in water
- 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 19, poem 1044)
- 紅に染めし心もたのまれず人をあくにはうつる蝶なり
- kurenai ni someshi kokoro mo tanomarezu hito o aku ni wa utsuru tefu nari
- (please add an English translation of this example)
- [Note: This aku is also a pun on the verb 飽く (aku, “to tire of something”).]
- scum, the coagulated proteins and fats that gather on the surface of a pot of boiling food
- [from 1700] components contained in vegetables that impart an acrid, astringent, or harsh flavor
- 灰汁が強い、灰汁を抜く
- aku ga tsuyoi, aku o nuku
- harshness is strong → strongly unpleasant [flavor], remove the harshness [as from vegetables]
- [from 1909] アク: (by extension from the "flavor" sense) harshness as a characteristic of one's personality
- アクの強い男性
- aku no tsuyoi dansei
- a man with a harsh / overly strong / forceful / pushy personality
Various kanji readings.
For pronunciation and definitions of あく – see the following entries.
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【明く】
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- [verb] Alternative form of 開く
- [verb] open one's eyes or mouth
- [verb] for one's collar etc. to be open
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(This term, あく (aku), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as あく, see Category:Japanese kanji read as あく.)
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(The following entries are uncreated: 亜久, 阿久, 渥, 安久, 吾久, 愛玖, 愛紅.)
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "灰汁" in 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese)
- ^ “灰汁”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten][1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN