ボタン

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
釦 (rare) 鈕 (rare)

From Portuguese botão;^[1][2] compare English button.

First cited to 1651.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ぼたん [bòtáń] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [bo̞tã̠ɴ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ボタン • (botan) 

1. [from 1651] a button (clothing)
2. [from 1885] a button (mechanical device)

   Synonym: 押しボタン (oshi-botan, literally “push-button”)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of ボタン – see the following entry.

【牡丹ぼたん】 [noun] a peony, especially the Chinese tree peony, Paeonia suffruticosa [noun] a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with various designs of peony petals and twigs [noun] (historical) boar meat [noun] (card games) a suit in 花札 (hanafuda), representing the month of June [proper noun] a place name [proper noun] a surname [proper noun] a female given name

(This term, ボタン (botan), is the katakana spelling of the above term.)

References

1. “鈕・釦”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN