いさら井い

Meanings

small water spring

archaic

Archaic noun for a small natural spring or welling water source. Not used in modern everyday Japanese; encountered mainly in classical literature or historical descriptions.

古ふるい和わ歌かに「いさら井い」という言こと葉ばが詠よまれている。
The word 'isara-i' appears in old waka poetry.

Kanji

井well, well crib, town
細dainty, get thin, taper
小little, small

Related words

泉いずみ
Modern common word for a spring or fountain; いさら井 is an archaic synonym with a poetic or classical flavor.
湧わき水みず
Common term for spring water; いさら井 specifically suggests a small, perhaps gentle spring, and is not used in contemporary speech.

Written forms

いさら井い
Archaic kanji spelling for a small spring; the reading いさらい is not obvious from the characters.
細小井いさらい
Alternate archaic kanji spelling; both forms are rare and mainly encountered in historical texts.

Etymology

The derivation is uncertain. The kanji いさら井 and 細小井 are likely ateji or conventional spellings for the native word いさらい, which may be related to いさら (small, fine) and 井 (well, spring).