Chinese

Noun

昔昔

1. (literary) every night

Japanese

Etymology

Reduplication of 昔 ‎(mukashi, “ancient times, a long time ago”).^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) むかしむかし [mùkáshí múkáshí] (Heiban - [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [mɯᵝka̠ɕi mɯᵝka̠ɕi]

Alternative forms

• 昔々

Noun

昔昔 ‎(hiragana むかしむかし, romaji mukashi mukashi)

1. ancient times, a very long time ago

   昔昔 (むかしむかし)、遠 (とお)いところに…

   mukashi mukashi, tōi tokoro ni…

   a long time ago in a place far away...

Usage notes

When used to start a fairy tale or other story, mukashi mukashi is often glossed as once upon a time.

Synonyms

• 大昔 (おおむかし) ‎(ōmukashi)

References

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