時雨しぐれ

noun

rain shower in late autumn or early winter

A brief, intermittent shower typical of the transition from autumn to winter. Often carries a poetic or seasonal nuance in Japanese literature.

• 時雨しぐれが降ふってきたので、急いそいで軒のき下したに入はいった。

  A late-autumn shower started, so I hurried under the eaves.

• 京きょう都との冬ふゆの訪おとずれは、時雨しぐれとともに感かんじられる。

  In Kyoto, the arrival of winter is felt with the seasonal showers.

noun

seasonable rain

Only with reading じう

Archaic reading じう for a rain that falls at the appropriate season. Rarely used in modern Japanese outside classical contexts.

• 古こ歌かでは「じう」と読よみ、季き節せつにかなった雨あめを指さすことがある。

  In classical poetry, it is read as じう and can refer to rain that suits the season.