🌏 Region(s): Honshu (Standard)
せく【塞く・堰く】 : seku | define meaning
seku
Pronunciation: /seku/
Definition
Verb
- (Water) To dam
- おがわのみずをせく【小川の水を堰く】
ogawa no mizu o seku
"To dam the (water of the) stream", "To dam up the stream"
- おがわのみずをせく【小川の水を堰く】
- (Obsolete in SJ) (Kyushu dialects) To block; to shut; to obstruct
- みちをせく【道をせく】
michi o seku
"To block a road", "To block the way" - とをせく【戸をせく】
to o seku
"To shut the door", "To shut the gate" - ひとをせく【人をせく】
hito o seku
"To interrupt someone", "To obstruct someone"
- みちをせく【道をせく】
- (Obsolete in SJ) (Kyushu dialects) To crowd; to pack; to jostle
- ひとにせかれる【人にせかれる】
hito ni sekareru
"To be crowded with people", "To be jostled by [a crowd of] people"
- ひとにせかれる【人にせかれる】
- (Obsolete in SJ) (Kyushu, Shikoku dialects) To feel pain (in one's chest or stomach); to hurt; to ache
- むねがせく【胸がせく】
mune ga seku
"To feel pain in one's chest", "To have chest pains" - はらがせく【原がせく】
hara ga seku
"To feel pain in one's stomach", "To have a stomach ache"
- むねがせく【胸がせく】
Etymology
Sense 2 is likely from Chinese 【塞】 "to stop, to block, to cram, to jam" (cf. Mandarin sāi, sè, sēi; Cantonese sak1; Hakka set; Min Dong sék, sáik; Min Nan sak, sek, siak, sat; Wu 4seq; Sino-Vietnamese tắc, tái; Sino-Korean 섹 saek, 새 sae; Sino-Japanese そく soku, さい sai).
Historical attestations:
- 万葉集 Man'yōshū (759) records several instances of its verbal and nominal forms glossed as "(to) dam", including [MYS.14.3545] 世久 seku, [MYS.2.197a] 塞益者 sekamaseba, [MYS.15.3734a] 世伎 seki.
- Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam (1603), aka Nippo Jisho (日葡辞書), records "xeqi, u, -eita" and provides several definitions including "to block (roads)", "to impede, to prevent (people from coming and going)", "to shut (a door)", "to be squeezed [jostled] by a crowd, to be crowded", "to feel pain (in one's chest or stomach)" and "to dam (the water of a river)".
- A Japanese and English Dictionary: With an English and Japanese Index (1867), by James Curtis Hepburn, records "Seki, -ku, -ita, セク, 咳, t.v. To cough." and includes examples such as "Seite neraremasen, I could not sleep for coughing. Seki wo [seku], to cough. Tan wo seki-dasu, to cough up phlegm".
- 日本大辞書 Nihon dai jisho (1894), by Binyō Yamada, records "〔せ(狭)ト同属〕サヘギル、ササヘル、セギル。「水ヲせく」「人ヲせく」".
Discussion:
- Unclear relation between せく【急く】 seku "to breathe with difficulty" (esp. in いきせく【息急く】 ikiseku "to pant, to gasp (for air)") , せく【咳く】 seku "to cough", せく【塞く・堰く】 seku "to block; dam" and historical senses of せく seku including "to block (a road)", "to shut (a door)", "to interfere (in relations)", "to feel pain (in one's chest or stomach)", "to be squeezed [jostled] by a crowd, to be crowded". Several sources (including the 日本国語大辞典) group these senses together under the same origin but exclude the sense of "to hurry".
- The word せき【関】 seki "gate, barrier" (historically for collecting a toll) is likely related to the senses of "block (a road)" or "shut (a door)".
Spelling
Orthography | Form |
---|---|
Kanji | 塞く 堰く |
Kana | せく |
Romanization | seku |
Pronunciation (IPA) | /seku/ |
意味:せく【塞く・堰く】、①せきとめる【塞き止める・堰き止める】、②さえぎる【遮る】、しめる【閉める】、ふさぐ【塞ぐ・壅ぐ】、へいそくする【閉塞する】、③こむ【込む・混む】、もみあう【揉み合う】、おしあう【押し合う】、④いたむ【痛む】