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砂漠 (さばく) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

砂さ漠ばく

さ

ば

く

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

noun

A dry, barren region such as the Sahara Desert; used both as a common noun and in proper names like サハラ砂漠.

この地ち域いきには広ひろい砂さ漠ばくがある。
There is a vast desert in this region.
サハラ砂さ漠ばくは世せ界かい最さい大だい級きゅうの砂さ漠ばくだ

。

The Sahara Desert is one of the largest deserts in the world.

Written forms

砂さ漠ばくUsage91%
Standard and common spelling for “desert.”
沙さ漠ばくUsage7%
rarely-used kanji form
Rare kanji variant given; 砂漠 is the normal modern spelling.
さばくUsage2%
サバクUsage1%

Kanji

砂sand
漠vague, obscure, desert
沙sand

Similar words

砂さ丘きゅう
Means “sand dune,” a hill or ridge of sand; a 砂漠 may contain many 砂丘, but the words are not interchangeable.
荒こう野や
Means “wilderness” or “wasteland” more generally, and does not necessarily imply a sandy or extremely dry desert.

Etymology

A Sino-Japanese compound written with 砂 “sand” and 漠, a character associated with broad, indistinct expanses. The rare variant 沙漠 uses 沙, another character meaning “sand.”