Etymology 1
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加羅
迦羅 |
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From Gaya [script needed] (kara).[1][2]
Etymology 2
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There are two leading theories, both deriving from Middle Chinese 伽羅 (MC gja la):
Noun
伽羅 • (kyara)
- Short for 伽羅木 (kyaraboku): a Japanese yew variety, Taxus cuspidata var. nana
- an aromatic tree
- incense, especially when made from such aromatic wood
- (by extension) something of high quality, a rarity, a luxury
- (historical slang, obsolete) during the Edo period, a red-light district slang word for "money"
- flattery, sycophancy
Derived terms
- 伽羅色 (kyarairo, “dark reddish brown color”)
- 伽羅柿 (kyaragaki): a variety of persimmon noted for its darker skin and sweeter taste
- 伽羅臭い (kyarakusai, “ostentatious, showy, overdone”)
- 伽羅細工 (kyara zaiku): fine woodwork created using aromatic woods
- 伽羅代 (kyara dai): in the Edo period, a red-light district slang term for money, especially the fee paid to an entertainer or prostitute
- 伽羅の油 (kyara no abura): a kind of pomade or hair oil made from sesame oil, plant resins, and cloves
- 伽羅の御方 (kyara no onkata, “one's legal wife”)
- 伽羅の木 (kyara no ki, “Japanese yew”)
- 伽羅の字 (kyara no ji): in the Edo period, a red-light district slang term for money, especially the fee paid to an entertainer or prostitute
- 伽羅の枕 (kyara no makura): a wooden headrest with a drawer for burning incense
- 伽羅冷 (kyara hiyashi): a kind of tin urn or tin-plated box, partially filled with water, over which agarwood incense is placed; used in summer
- 伽羅蕗 (kyarabuki): butterbur stems simmered in soy sauce until dark reddish brown
- 伽羅木 (kyaraboku, “Japanese yew”)
- 伽羅枕 (kyara makura): a wooden headrest with a drawer for burning incense
- 伽羅女 (kyarame, “beautiful woman”, slang)
- 伽羅者 (kyaramono): a flatterer; an amiable or sociable person who is quick to compliment others
Idioms
- 伽羅で作った仏同然 (kyara de tsukutta hotoke dōzen): “just like a Buddha statue made from agarwood” → agarwood only smells nice when burned, so making a statue out of agarwood is pointless: something or someone of high value, but that turns out to be useless
- 伽羅を言う (kyara o iu): “to speak incense” → to flatter, to say nice things to flatter or ingratiate someone
- 伽羅の仏に箔置く (kyara no hotoke ni haku oku): “to put gold foil on an agarwood Buddha” → “to put the icing on the cake”: adding something good on top of something that is already good
- 伽羅も焚かず屁もこかず (kyara mo takazu he mo kokazu): “not even burning incense, not even passing gas” → neither here nor there, neither good nor bad
Coordinate terms
- 木所 (kidokoro): 伽羅 (kyara), 羅国 (rakoku), 真南蛮 (manaban), 真那伽 (manaka), 佐曽羅 (sasora), 寸門多羅 (sumotara)
References
Christopher I. Beckwith (2009) Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 105: “The spelling Kaya is the modern Korean reading of the characters used to write the name; the pronunciation /kara/ (transcriptionally *kala) is certain.” Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
