Chinese

Adverb

日日

1. (literary) daily

Japanese

Alternative forms

• 日々 (using the ditto mark 々 for the duplicated character)

Etymology 1

Reduplication of 日 ‎(hi, “sun; day”). The hi changes to bi as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

This is generally the most common reading for this kanji compound.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ひ​び [híꜜbì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [çibi]

Adverb

日日 ‎(hiragana ひび, romaji hibi)

1. day by day

   日日 (ひび)暑 (あつ)くなるね。

   Hibi atsuku naru ne.

   It's getting hotter day by day, isn't it.

Synonyms

• 毎日 (まいにち) ‎(mainichi)
• 日毎 (ひごと) ‎(higoto) (when followed by adverbial particle に ‎(ni))
• 日 (ひ)に日 (ひ)に ‎(hinihini)

Noun

日日 ‎(hiragana ひび, romaji hibi)

1. every day, daily

   日日 (ひび)の御飯 (ごはん)

   hibi no gohan

   one's daily meals

Idioms

Synonyms

• 毎日 (まいにち) ‎(mainichi)
• 日毎 (ひごと) ‎(higoto)

Etymology 2

Reduplication of 日 ‎(nichi, “sun; day”), using the on'yomi pronunciation.

This is a less-common reading for this kanji compound.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) にちにち [nìchíníchí] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [nit͡ɕĩnit͡ɕi]

Adverb

日日 ‎(hiragana にちにち, romaji nichinichi)

1. day by day

Synonyms

• 毎日 (まいにち) ‎(mainichi)
• 日毎 (ひごと) ‎(higoto) (when followed by adverbial particle に ‎(ni))
• 日 (ひ)に日 (ひ)に ‎(hinihini)

Noun

日日 ‎(hiragana にちにち, romaji nichinichi)

1. every day, daily

Idioms

Derived terms

Synonyms

• 毎日 (まいにち) ‎(mainichi)
• 日毎 (ひごと) ‎(higoto)

Etymology 3

Compound of 日 ‎(hi, “sun; day”, using the native Japanese reading) +‎ 日 ‎(nichi, “sun; day”, using the Chinese-derived reading).

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
• (Tokyo) ひにち [hìníchí] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [çĩnit͡ɕi]

Noun

日日 ‎(hiragana ひにち, romaji hinichi)

1. a specific date

   日日 (ひにち)を決 (き)める

   hinichi o kimeru

   to set a date

2. days

   骨折 (こっせつ)が直 (なお)るまでどのくらい日日 (ひにち)が掛 (か)かったの？

   Kossetsu ga naoru made dono kurai hinichi ga kakatta no?

   How many days did it take for your broken bone to heal?

Usage notes

Often spelled 日にち to avoid ambiguity.

Synonyms

• (date): 日取 (ひど)り ‎(hidori), 期日 (きじつ) ‎(kijitsu)
• (days): 日数 (にっすう) ‎(nissū), 日数 (ひかず) ‎(hikazu)

References

1. 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 3 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