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おたま Japanese meaning | Kotomora

おたま

お

た

ま

JLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

usually written using kana aloneabbreviation

Abbreviation of お玉杓子 (otamajakushi). Common in everyday kitchen contexts.

See also: お玉杓子

おたまでスープをすくう。
I ladle the soup with a ladle.

2

noun

Written forms

おたまUsage52%
Usually written in kana; the kanji spelling お玉 is also used but less common.
オタマUsage41%
お玉たまUsage8%
Kanji spelling; less common than kana.

Kanji

玉

hen's egg

usually written using kana alone

Rare, old-fashioned, or dialectal term for a hen's egg. Modern Japanese normally uses 卵 (たまご) or 玉子 (たまご).

See also: 玉子

昔むかしはおたまを産うむ鶏にわとりを飼かっていた。
In the old days, we kept chickens that laid eggs.

jewel, ball

Similar words

お玉たま杓じゃく子し
Full form of the abbreviation おたま; also means 'tadpole'. おたま is the common clipped form for 'ladle'.
卵たまご
Standard word for 'egg'. おたま in the egg sense is rare and old-fashioned.

Etymology

Abbreviation of お玉杓子 (otamajakushi, 'ladle'). The egg sense is a separate, rare usage possibly derived from 玉 (tama, 'ball, egg') with honorific prefix お.