相棒

Japanese
Kanji in this term
相 棒
あい
Grade: 3		 ぼう
Grade: 6
kun’yomi goon

Etymology

Compound of 相(あい) (ai, “fellow”) + 棒(ぼう) (bō, “pole”).

Its original meaning referred to the second person carrying a 駕籠(かご) (kago), a kind of form of transportation used by peasantry in feudal Japan involving a compartment suspended by a long pole inside which people would be carried.[1]

First attested in 1773.[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

相(あい)棒(ぼう) • (aibō) ←あひばう (afibau)?

  1. [early 1900s] partner, sidekick (someone who is associated with another in a common activity or interest)

References
  1. “相棒”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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