Japanese

Alternative forms

• めでたい, 目出度い, 芽出度い

Adjective

愛でたい ‎(-i inflection, hiragana めでたい, romaji medetai)

1. auspicious (auguring favourable circumstances and good luck)

Usage notes

This word is usually written all in hiragana, as めでたい. When written in kanji, the spellings 目出度い and 芽出度い may also be seen. The kanji in both of these spellings are examples of ateji.^[1][2][3]

References

1. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
3. 1 2 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-501211-0
4. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3