屋おく烏うの愛あい

Meanings

love so deep it extends even to a crow on the beloved's roof; all-embracing love

A classical Chinese-derived idiom (idiomatic expression) describing profound, unconditional love that encompasses everything associated with the beloved, even the most ordinary or unappealing things. Rare in modern conversation; mostly encountered in literary or explanatory contexts.

「屋おく烏うの愛あい」ということわざは、愛あいする人ひとの家いえの屋や根ねに止とまっているカラスさえも愛いとおしく感かんじる深ふかい愛あい情じょうを表あらわしている。
The proverb 'okuu no ai' expresses a deep affection so strong that even a crow perched on the roof of the beloved's house feels dear.

Kanji

屋roof, house, shop
烏crow, raven
愛love, affection, favourite
之of, this

Related words

愛あい屋おく及きゅう烏う
The original Chinese four-character idiom (愛屋及烏) from which 屋烏の愛 is derived; carries the same meaning but is even more classical and less common in Japanese.

Built from

屋おく烏う+愛あい

Written forms

屋おく烏うの愛あい
Standard kanji form for this idiomatic expression.
屋おく烏う之の愛あい
Variant using the classical possessive particle 之 instead of の; mainly found in older or literary texts.

Etymology

From the Chinese idiom 愛屋及烏 (ài wū jí wū), literally 'love the house and its crows', meaning that love for a person extends to everything associated with them. The Japanese form 屋烏の愛 is a wasei kango adaptation using the same characters.