丸太

Japanese

Kanji in this term
丸	太
まる Grade: 2	た Grade: 2
kun’yomi	kan’yōon

Etymology

Compound of 丸 (maru, “circle; round”) +‎ 太 (ta, “fat”, here possibly emphasizing the roundness).

First cited to a text from 1633.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) まるた [màrútá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ma̠ɾɯ̟ᵝta̠]

Noun

丸(まる)太(た) • (maruta)  (alternative reading hiragana まろた, rōmaji marota) (less common)

1. [from 1633] a log: unsawn lumber (UK) or timber (US), a section of a tree cut to a length and with the bark removed, but otherwise round and unfinished

   Synonyms: 丸木 (maruki), 丸太ん棒 (marutanbō)

2. [from 1697] alternate name for the 似鯉(にごい) (nigoi) fish (Hemibarbus barbus); more commonly known as ニゴイ (nigoi)
3. [from ???] the Pacific redfin (Tribolodon brandtii); more commonly known as マルタウグイ (maruta ugui)
4. [from circa 1687] (historical, slang) during the Edo period, derogatory term for an unlicensed prostitute dressed as a Buddhist nun as a form of disguise from the authorities (from the way the shaven head looks a bit like a debarked log, and from the way that they both roll around)
5. [from 1937] (historical) human test subjects of Unit 731

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 丸太小屋(まるたごや) (maruta-goya): a log cabin
• 丸太(まるた)ん棒(ぼう) (marutanbō): a log (more casual)
• 丸太魚(まるたうお) (maruta uo): a maruta fish: a ニゴイ (nigoi)
• 丸太式舞台(まるたしきぶたい) (maruta-shiki butai): a log-style (theater) stage, made of hewn logs
• 丸太舟(まるたぶね) (marutabune): a kind of boat made of logs and used mainly on Lake Biwa starting from the medieval period
• 丸太洗(まるたあら)い (marutārai): logs used to shore up the bottom of a reservoir pond or sewer outlet

Idioms

• 丸太(まるた)に糠釘(ぬかくぎ) (maruta ni nukakugi): “a tack into a log” → a metaphor for one's intentions or feelings not getting through to another person, much as a tack will not go through a log

Descendants

• → Chinese: 馬路大／马路大 (mǎlùdà)
• → Korean: 마루타 (maruta, “human guinea pig”)

Further reading

• Lumber on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 木材 (Lumber) on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• ニゴイ on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja (Hemibarbus barbus)
• ウグイ on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja (Tribolodon hakonensis)
• Edo period on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ukiyo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia