Japanese

Alternative forms

• 御目出度う, 御芽出度う, お目出度う, お芽出度う

Interjection

おめでとう ‎(romaji omedetō, historical hiragana おめでたう)

1. congratulations, congrats

Usage notes

Most often written in hiragana. May occasionally be seen spelled in kanji, generally for more formal writing. The kanji spellings are examples of ateji. Usually followed by ございます ‎(gozaimasu, “it is”, formal) in less casual contexts.^[2][3][1]

Derived terms

Etymology 2

A pun on the congratulatory meaning of omedetō, using the common kanji spelling of 御目出 for the omede- portion and spelling the final -tō with the character 糖 ‎(tō, “sugar”).^[2][3][1]

Noun

おめでとう ‎(romaji omedetō, historical hiragana おめでたう)

1. 御目出糖: a type of Japanese sweet made from rice and azuki bean paste, eaten at times of celebration

References

1. 1 2 3 4 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
3. 1 2 3 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-501211-0