あく

Japanese

Etymology 1
Alternative spelling
灰汁

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.

Pronunciation

Noun

あく • (aku) 

  1. [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(くれなゐ)に染(そ)めし心(こころ)もたのまれず人(ひと)をあくにはうつる蝶(てふ)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”).]
  2. scum, the coagulated proteins and fats that gather on the surface of a pot of boiling food
  3. [from 1700] components contained in vegetables that impart an acrid, astringent, or harsh flavor
    灰汁(あく)が強(つよ)い、灰汁(あく)を抜(ぬ)く
    aku ga tsuyoi, aku o nuku
    harshness is strong → strongly unpleasant [flavor], remove the harshness [as from vegetables]
  4. [from 1909] アク: (by extension from the "flavor" sense) harshness as a characteristic of one's personality
    アクの強(つよ)い男性(だんせい)
    aku no tsuyoi dansei
    a man with a harsh / overly strong / forceful / pushy personality

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Various kanji readings.

For pronunciation and definitions of あく – see the following entries.
【開く】
[verb] to open
[verb] to begin
【空く】
[verb] have space between, be open
[verb] become empty, unoccupied, vacated
[verb] become unused, free
[verb] become free (not busy)
[verb] become open (of a job etc.)
【明く】
[verb] Alternative form of 開く
[verb] open one's eyes or mouth
[verb] for one's collar etc. to be open
【飽く】
[verb] (archaic or literary) to tire of
[verb] (archaic) to be satisfied
Alternative spellings
厭く, 倦く
【厭く】
[verb] (archaic) to tire of
[verb] to be satisfied
【倦く】
[verb] (archaic) to tire of
[verb] to be satisfied
【悪】3
[noun] evil, wickedness
[affix] evil, vice, ill, wrong
[affix] bad; disagreeable; unpleasant; undesirable;
[affix] inferior; ugly
[affix] fierce; vicious
【握】S
[affix] grip; hold
(This term, あく, 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.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 亜久, 阿久, 渥, 安久, 吾久, 愛玖, 愛紅.)

References
  1. "灰汁" in 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese)
  2. “灰汁”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  3. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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