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貝割り (かいわり) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

貝かい割わり

か

い

わ

り

Meanings

1

noun

radish sprout

Specifically refers to the young sprouts of daikon radish, often used in salads and as a garnish. The name comes from the shell-like split cotyledons.

サラダに貝かい割わりをのせると、彩いろどりがよくなる。
Adding radish sprouts to a salad makes it more colorful.
貝かい割わりは発はつ芽がしてすぐに収しゅう穫かくできる。
Radish sprouts can be harvested soon after germination.

Written forms

貝かい割わり
Standard spelling for radish sprouts, using 貝 (shell) and 割り (split), referring to the split cotyledons.
貝かい割わり
Variant without okurigana; less common but seen in product names.
卵割かいわり
Ateji spelling using 卵 (egg) for phonetic value; rarely used.
卵割かいわり
Ateji variant without okurigana; very rare.
穎割かいわり
Ateji spelling using 穎 (husk) for phonetic value; rarely used.
穎割かいわり
Ateji variant without okurigana; very rare.

Kanji

貝shellfish
割proportion, comparatively, divide
卵egg, ovum, spawn
穎heads of grain, cleverness

Similar words

もやし
もやし refers to bean sprouts (usually mung bean or soybean), while 貝割り specifically refers to radish sprouts.
スプラウト
スプラウト is a broader loanword for any edible sprout, including alfalfa, broccoli, etc., while 貝割り is specifically radish sprouts.

Etymology

From 貝 (kai, 'shell') + 割り (wari, 'split'), referring to the appearance of the split cotyledons resembling a shell. The ateji spellings 卵割り and 穎割り use characters with similar readings.