Chinese

Noun

石榴

1. pomegranate

Derived terms

Japanese

石榴 (zakuro, jakuro, sekiryū): young pomegranate trees.

石榴 (zakuro, jakuro, sekiryū): an opened pomegranate fruit.

Alternative forms

• 柘榴
• 若榴

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 石榴 ‎(/d͡ʑiᴇk̚ lɨu/, literally “stone + pomegranate”). Compare modern Wu reading zaq lieu, Hakka sa̍k-liù.

The reading is irregular. This may represent a shift in pronunciation from an older borrowing: compare the expected goon reading jakuru. Alternatively, this reading may reflect an ancient sound borrowing, indicating the Zagros Mountains of modern-day Iran, where the pomegranate was originally cultivated.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) ざ​くろ [záꜜkùrò] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [za̠kɯᵝɺ̠o̞]

Noun

石榴 ‎(hiragana ざくろ, katakana ザクロ, romaji zakuro)

1. pomegranate

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as ザクロ.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 石榴 ‎(/d͡ʑiᴇk̚ lɨu/, literally “stone + pomegranate”). Uses the regular goon reading of jaku for the first character, and the irregular ro reading for the second character instead of the expected goon reading of ru.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑa̠kɯᵝɺ̠o̞]

Noun

石榴 ‎(hiragana じゃくろ, romaji jakuro)

1. (しゃくろ', obsolete) pomegranate

Usage notes

This reading appears to be obsolete.

Etymology 3

/sekiriu/ → /sekirjuː/

From Middle Chinese 石榴 ‎(/d͡ʑiᴇk̚ lɨu/, literally “stone + pomegranate”). Uses the regular kanon reading of both characters.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) せ​きりゅう [séꜜkìryùù] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [se̞kʲirjɯᵝː]

Noun

石榴 ‎(hiragana せきりゅう, romaji sekiryū, historical hiragana せきりう)

1. (uncommon) pomegranate

Usage notes

The zakuro reading above is the most common reading for this term.

Derived terms

References

1. ↑ 清水桂一 (Keiichi Shimizu), editor (1980) たべもの語源辞典 (Tabemono Gogen Jiten, “Etymological Dictionary of Foods”) (in Japanese), 東京堂出版 (Tōkyō-dō Shuppan, “Tokyo Hall Publishing”), ISBN 4-490-10128-7
2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
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
4. ↑ 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0

Korean

Noun

石榴 • ‎(seongnyu) ‎(hangeul 석류)

1. Hanja form^? of 석류, “pomegranate”.

Okinawan

Etymology

Attested in the 沖縄語典 (Okinawa Goten, “Okinawan Dictionary”) as ざぐら ‎(zagura).^[1] Appears to be cognate with mainland Japanese 石榴 ‎(zakuro); see that entry for further details.

Noun

石榴 ‎(hiragana ざくら, romaji zakura)

1. pomegranate

References

1. ↑ 1896: 沖縄語典 (Okinawa Goten, “Okinawan Dictionary”). In Japanese. http://kindai.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/992016/43

• 沖縄語辞典 (Okinawago Jiten, “Okinawan Dictionary”), 1963

Vietnamese

Noun

石榴

1. Hán tự form of thạch lựu, “pomegranate”