Japanese edit

Alternative spellings
万引き
万引
 
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Etymology edit

/mabiki//maɴbiki/

Shift from 間引き (mabiki, thinning out), from verb 間引く (mabiku, to thin out seedlings; to pull out items from the middle).[1][2] The original term first referred to the process of culling seedlings. Over time, this was used more euphemistically to refer to a shoplifter "thinning out" a store's merchandise.

First attested as manbiki in a text from 1831.[3]

The use of to spell the man portion is an example of ateji (当て字).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

まんびき (manbiki

  1. shoplifting
  2. shoplifter

Verb edit

まんびきする (manbiki surusuru (stem まんびき (manbikisuru shi), past まんびきした (manbikisuru shita))

  1. to shoplift

Conjugation edit

References edit

  1. 1.0 1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ 万引”, in 日本大百科全書:ニッポニカ (Nippon Dai Hyakka Zensho: Nipponica, Encyclopedia Nipponica)[1] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 1984
  3. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Further reading edit