渚なぎさ

な

ぎ

さ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

Refers to the area where land meets water, often with a poetic or scenic nuance. Common in place names and literary contexts.

渚なぎさに打うち寄よせる波

なみ

の

音おと

が

心地ここち

よい

。

The sound of waves washing onto the shore is pleasant.

夏なつの渚なぎさは海かい水すい浴よく客きゃくで賑にぎわう。

In summer, the beach is crowded with swimmers.

Usage patterns

〈場ば所しょ〉を歩あるくto walk along the shore
二人ふたりは静しずかな渚なぎさを歩あるいた。
The two of them walked along the quiet shore.
〈場ば所しょ〉に立たつto stand at the water's edge
彼かの女じょは渚なぎさに立たって夕ゆう日ひを眺ながめた。
She stood at the water's edge and gazed at the sunset.

Kanji

渚strand, beach, shore
汀water's edge, shore, bank

Related words

波なみ打うち際ぎわ
波打ち際 describes the exact line where waves break on the shore, while 渚 is a broader, more poetic word for the water's edge.
浜はま辺べN1
浜辺 is the everyday, plain word for 'beach', whereas 渚 carries a more literary or scenic nuance.
海かい岸がんN4
海岸 is a broad, geographical term for 'coast', while 渚 focuses narrowly on the line where water meets land.
岸きしN3
岸 is a general word for the bank or shore of any body of water, while 渚 specifically evokes the poetic water's-edge of a sea or beach.

Written forms

渚なぎさUsage66%
Standard kanji spelling; high priority.
なぎさUsage26%
汀なぎさUsage7%
Literary or archaic kanji variant; rarely used in modern writing.

Etymology

The native word なぎさ is attested from Old Japanese and originally denoted the water’s edge. 渚 is a Chinese-derived character adopted as its semantic spelling.