どん底

Japanese

Kanji in this term
底
そこ > ぞこ Grade: 4
kun'yomi

Etymology

Compound of どん (don-, intensifier, derived from and expressing a greater degree than ど (do)) +‎ 底 (soko, “the bottom of something, the depths of something”).^[1]^[2] The soko changes to zoko as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) どんぞこ [dòńzókó] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [dõ̞nd͡zo̞ko̞]

Noun

どん底(ぞこ) • (donzoko)

(both literally and figuratively) absolute lowest point, rock bottom, very bottom
very bad situation, catastrophic situation, the abyss
貧(びん)乏(ぼう)のどん底(ぞこ)
binbō no donzoko
extreme poverty, the rock bottom of poverty

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

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

[NHK-3] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-4] Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]