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咳 (せき, seki) Japanese meaning: cough | Kotomora

咳せき

also: しわぶき

せ

き

○

Common word›JLPTN3›Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

cough; coughing

General term for a cough or the act of coughing. The medical term 'tussis' is a technical synonym.

風邪かぜで咳せきが止とまらない。

I can't stop coughing because of a cold.

彼かれの咳せきがうつったかもしれない。

I might have caught his cough.

Usage patterns

咳せきが止とまらないthe coughing won't stop
風邪かぜをひいてから咳せきが止とまらない。
I've had a cough that won't stop since I caught a cold.
咳せきをするto cough
彼かれは会かい議ぎ中ちゅうに何なん度ども咳せきをした。
He coughed several times during the meeting.
咳せきを抑おさえるto suppress a cough
薬くすりを飲のんで咳せきを抑おさえた。
I took medicine to suppress my cough.
ひどい咳せきa severe cough
夜よるになるとひどい咳せきが出でる。
I get a severe cough at night.

Expressions

咳せきが出でるto cough; to have a cough

Kanji

咳cough, clear throat

Related words

咳がい嗽そう
咳嗽 is the formal medical term for a cough, while 咳 is the everyday word people use in daily speech.

Don't confuse with

くしゃみN3
咳 is a cough, while くしゃみ is a sneeze; both are common cold symptoms but refer to different actions.
しゃっくりN3
しゃっくり is a rhythmic hiccup from the diaphragm, whereas 咳 is a cough from the throat or lungs, and both are involuntary reflexes that beginners can conflate.
堰せき
咳 (せき) is pronounced identically to 堰 but means 'cough' and has nothing to do with water control.

Counted with

回かいN4
咳 is counted with 回, as in 咳が三回出た (the cough happened three times).

Word family

咳せき払ばらい
clearing one's throat; cough (to clear throat)
咳せき止どめ
cough medicine; cough syrup; cough lozenge
百ひゃく日にち咳ぜき
whooping cough; pertussis
空から咳せき
dry cough; hacking cough · intentional cough (to get attention)

Written forms

咳Usage67%
- せき
  Standard kanji spelling. The reading せき is the modern common reading.
- しわぶき
  Archaic reading. Rarely used in modern Japanese; the common reading is せき.
せきUsage27%

Etymology

The kanji 咳 is a phono-semantic compound: the mouth radical 口 and the phonetic component 亥 (gai). The reading せき is the Sino-Japanese on'yomi. The archaic reading しわぶき is a native Japanese word.

咳せきエチケット

cough etiquette; coughing manners

Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji is not needed.

セキUsage5%

しわぶきUsage1%