枝えだ葉は

also: しよう

え

だ

は

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

branches and leaves; foliage

Literal botanical sense referring to the branches and leaves of a tree or plant.

庭にわの木きの枝えだ葉はが伸のびすぎたので、剪

せん

定てい

し

た

。

The branches and leaves of the garden tree had grown too much, so I pruned them.

2

noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

unimportant details; nonessentials; side issue

Figurative use referring to minor or peripheral matters, often contrasted with the main point. The reading しよう is especially associated with this sense, as in the compound 枝葉末節.

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉は枝えだ葉はに過すぎないto be nothing more than a minor detail
その問もん題だいは枝えだ葉はに過すぎない。本ほん質しつを考かんがえよう。
That issue is nothing but a minor detail; let's think about the essential point.
〈物もの〉の枝えだ葉はを切きるto trim the branches and leaves of (a tree)
庭にわ師しが木きの枝えだ葉はを切きった。
The gardener trimmed the branches and leaves of the tree.
〈事こと〉の枝えだ葉はにとらわれるto get bogged down in minor details of a matter
議ぎ論ろんが枝えだ葉はにとらわれて本ほん題だいに進すすまない。
The discussion got bogged down in minor details and never reached the main topic.

Kanji

枝bough, branch, twig
葉leaf, plane, lobe

Related words

枝し葉よう末まっ節せつ sense 2
枝葉末節 is a four-character idiom meaning 'trivial details,' making the peripheral-matters sense of 枝葉 more explicit and emphatic.
瑣さ末まつ sense 2
些末 is a more formal, purely abstract word for 'trivial,' while 枝葉 keeps a vivid botanical image of branches and leaves as the metaphor for unimportant details.
些さ細さいN2sense 2
些細 is a common na-adjective for 'minor, trifling' used for everyday small matters, whereas 枝葉 specifically frames something as peripheral to a main point.

Opposites

本ほん質しつN1sense 2
本質 is the essential core of a matter, the direct opposite of 枝葉 when it means unimportant peripheral details.

Built from

枝えだ+葉は

Written forms

枝葉Usage100%
- えだは
  Standard kanji spelling for both literal and figurative senses.
- しよう
しよう
Rare reading used mainly in the figurative sense, especially in the compound 枝葉末節.

Etymology

Compound of 枝 (branch) and 葉 (leaf). The figurative sense of 'unimportant details' derives from the idea that branches and leaves are peripheral compared to the trunk or root.