狭せばし

ku-adjective (archaic)

narrow; confined; small

Archaic -ku adjective (modern 狭い). Used in classical Japanese texts. The reading せばし is the most common form.

• 古こ歌かに「世よの中なかは狭せばしと思おもへど」とある。

  An old poem says, 'Though I think the world is narrow...'

shiku-adjective (archaic)

narrow; confined; small

Only with reading せばし

Archaic -shiku adjective form, restricted to the reading せばし. Functionally equivalent to sense 1 but with a different classical conjugation pattern.

• 「狭せばし」はシク活かつ用ようとしても用もちいられた。

  狭し was also used as a shiku-conjugation adjective.