脇

See also: 胁 and 脅

脇 U+8107, 脇 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8107 ← 脆 [U+8106] CJK Unified Ideographs 脈 → [U+8108]

Translingual

Alternative forms

• 脅

Han character

脇 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+6, 10 strokes, cangjie input 月大尸尸 (BKSS), composition ⿰月劦)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 982, character 4
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29467
• Dae Jaweon: page 1434, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2073, character 8
• Unihan data for U+8107

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声) : semantic 肉 + phonetic 劦 (OC *ɦleːb).

Definitions

For pronunciation and definitions of 脇 – see 脅 (“flank; side of the body; ribs; to coerce; to threaten; etc.”). (This character is a variant form of 脅).

Japanese

Kanji

脇

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. armpit
2. the other way

Readings

• Go-on: こう (kō)^{←こふ (kofu, historical)}
• Kan-on: きょう (kyō)^{←けふ (kefu, historical)}
• Kun: わき (waki, 脇, Jōyō); わけ (wake); かたわら (katawara, 脇); かたわら (katawara, 脇ら)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
脇
わき Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative spellings
腋 (less common) 掖 (less common)

Nominalization of verb 分く (waku, “to split, to divide”), from the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem form”) of waki. Came to refer to the space between where two things split off from each other, and then, by extension, came to refer to the side of something.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) わき​ [wàkíꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠kʲi]

Noun

脇(わき) • (waki) 

1. (anatomy) the armpit, the underarm
   • 1928, 梶井基次郎(かじいもとじろう) [Kajii Motojirō], 桜(さくら)の樹(き)の下(した)には (Sakura no ki no shita ni wa)‎^[1], 新字新仮名 edition:

     おまえは腋(わき)の下(した)を拭(ふ)いているね。冷汗(ひやあせ)が出(で)るのか。

     Omae wa waki no shita o fuiteiru ne. Hiyaase ga deru no ka.

     I see you are wiping your armpit. Cold sweat?

2. the underarm area of clothing
3. the side of something (this sense may also be spelled 傍 or 側).

   脇(わき)から口(くち)を出(だ)す

   waki kara kuchi o dasu

   “to put one's mouth in from the side” → to jump into a conversation

   • 2003, 川本三郎 [Saburō Kawamoto], “高層ビルの足元にムラがある [Kōsō Biru no Ashimoto ni Mura ga Aru, Villages at the Feet of Skyscrapers]”, in 風の旅人 [Kaze no Tabibito, Wind Travelers]‎^[2], volume 5, Tōkyō: Eurasia Travel Co., Ltd., →ISBN, retrieved 2013-06-17, page 103:

     大きなビルの脇には、小さな飲食店が並ぶ昔ながらのマーケットのような町が残っている。

     おおきなびるのわきには、ちいさないんしょくてんがならぶむかしながらのまーけっとのようなまちがのこっている。
     Ōkina biru no waki ni wa, chīsana inshokuten ga narabu mukashi nagara no māketto no yō na machi ga nokotte iru.

     To the side of large buildings, streets remain that are like old-time markets, with rows of small restaurants.

4. a tangent, such as in a conversation

   話題(わだい)から脇(わき)へそれてしまう

   wadai kara waki e sorete shimau

   “to wander away from the topic and off onto a tangent” → to stray off-topic

5. something in a secondary and supporting role:
   1. in ancient Japan, an assistant to the 春宮坊 (Tōgūbō, rank title; responsible for administering eastern provinces)
   2. in the medieval period, old name for 関脇 (sekiwake, sumō rank)
   3. in 能楽 (nōgaku, “Noh theatre”), the supporting role played alongside the main protagonist
   4. in 浄瑠璃 (jōruri, recitation accompanying a puppet show), the supporting reciter
   5. in 邦楽 (hōgaku, traditional Japanese music), the accompaniment
6. something of lesser importance, something on the back burner (often used in constructions such as 脇にする (waki ni suru, “to put off to the side”), 脇になる (waki ni naru, “to become off to the side”).)
7. short for 脇(わき)能(のう) (wakinō): a type of Noh theatre, performed first in a series of performances, wherein a god or spirit prays for a peaceful reign for the emperor
8. short for 脇(わき)句(く) (wakiku): the two seven-syllable lines of poetry following the 発句 (hokku, the first three lines of a renga, of 17 syllables and later serving as the haiku form)
9. short for 脇(わき)百(びゃく)姓(しょう) (waki-byakushō): lower-ranking commoners in the Edo period and earlier
10. somewhere, someone, or something else

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 脇(わき)の御(ご)膳(ぜん) (waki no gozen): a type of fancy banquet dish for nobility

Idioms

Idioms

• 脇(わき)が甘(あま)い (waki ga amai): “to have sweet armpits” → in sumo, to be susceptible to underarm holds and throws
• 脇(わき)からはそうもあるまいと見(み)ゆるもの (waki kara wa sō mo aru mai to miyuru mono): “from the sidelines, it might not look like it could be that way” → it's generally difficult for someone uninvolved in a serious matter to understand all the particulars
• 脇(わき)を掻(か)く (waki o kaku): “to scratch one's armpit” → to get worked up, to get into a state
• 脇(わき)を詰(つ)める (waki o tsumeru): “to fill in the underarms” → to become an adult (from the way that children's clothes would have openings in the underarms and along other seams, to allow for alteration as the child grew)
• 脇(わき)を塞(ふさ)ぐ (waki o fusagu): “to close off the underarms” → to become an adult (from the way that children's clothes would have openings in the underarms and along other seams, to allow for alteration as the child grew)

Synonyms

Synonyms

• (armpit): 脇(わき)の下(した) (waki no shita), 脇(わき)壺(つぼ) (wakitsubo)
• (side): 側(そく)面(めん) (sokumen), 傍(そば) (soba), 側(そば) (soba), 横(よこ) (yoko)
• (sumo): 関(せき)脇(わけ) (sekiwake) (modern), 脇(わき)手(て) (wakite)
• (Noh): 脇(わき)師(し) (wakishi)
• (Jōruri): 脇(わき)語(がた)り (wakigatari), 脇(わき)太(た)夫(ゆう) (waki tayū)
• (accompaniment, depending on instrument): 脇(わき)唄(うた) (waki uta, “waki uta”), 脇(わき)三味線(じゃみせん) (waki-jamisen), 脇(わき)太(だい)鼓(こ) (waki-daiko), etc.
• (lesser importance): 二(に)の次(つぎ) (ni no tsugi), 後(あと)回(まわ)し (atomawashi)
• (else): よそ (yoso), ほか (hoka)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
脇
かたわら Grade: S
kun’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 脇 – see the following entry.

【かたわら】 [adverb] in addition, besides, while [noun] the side of something [noun] a person nearby [noun] the area nearby; vicinity [noun] a remote partially built-up area along a major highway [noun] in addition to…, while doing…, on the other hand… Alternative spellings 傍ら, 傍, 側ら, 側, 旁

(This term, 脇, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja

脇 • (hyeop) (hangeul 협, revised hyeop, McCune–Reischauer hyŏp, Yale hyep)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.