バラ

also: しょうび · そうび

ば

ら

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

noun

rose

usually written using kana alone

Refers to the flower or the plant. Usually written in katakana (バラ) in modern Japanese.

庭にわに赤あかいバラが咲さいている。
Red roses are blooming in the garden.
彼かの女じょにバラの花はな束たばを贈おくった。
I gave her a bouquet of roses.

Written forms

バラUsage72%
kana-only spelling
Standard katakana spelling for the common reading ばら; usually written in kana.
薔薇Usage21%
- ばら
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
  Kanji form is well-known but rarely used in everyday writing; usually written in kana.
- しょうび
  Sino-Japanese reading, mainly encountered in literary or formal contexts.
- そうび
  Alternate Sino-Japanese reading, even less common than しょうび.
ばらUsage7%
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Hiragana spelling is also used, though katakana is more common for this word.
そうびUsage<1%
しょうび

Kanji

薔water pepper
薇an edible fern

Etymology

The reading ばら is a jukujikun (special kanji reading) for 薔薇, which is a Chinese-derived compound. The Sino-Japanese readings しょうび and そうび are rarely used. The word is typically written in katakana.

バラ