腐食 (ふしょく, fushoku) Japanese meaning: decay | Kotomora

腐ふ食しょく

ふ

しょ

く

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 20,000

腐食する · noun or participle which takes 'suru'

Form	Positive	Negative
Dictionary	腐ふ食しょくする	腐ふ食しょくしない
Polite	腐ふ食しょくします	腐ふ食しょくしません
Past polite	腐ふ食しょくしました	腐ふ食しょくしませんでした
Past	腐ふ食しょくした	腐ふ食しょくしなかった
Te-form	腐ふ食しょくして	腐ふ食しょくしないで
Desire	腐ふ食しょくしたい	腐ふ食しょくしたくない
Potential	腐ふ食しょくできる	腐ふ食しょくできない
Passive	腐ふ食しょくされる	腐ふ食しょくされない
Causative	腐ふ食しょくさせる	腐ふ食しょくさせない
Causative passive	腐ふ食しょくさせられる	腐ふ食しょくさせられない
Volitional	腐ふ食しょくしよう
Polite volitional	腐ふ食しょくしましょう
Imperative	腐ふ食しょくしろ	腐ふ食しょくするな
Conditional	腐ふ食しょくすれば	腐ふ食しょくしなければ
Tara conditional	腐ふ食しょくしたら	腐ふ食しょくしなかったら

Meanings

noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', transitive verb, intransitive verb

decay; rot; erosion

General term for organic decay, rotting, or gradual wearing away of materials by natural forces. Often used in scientific and everyday contexts.

湿しっ気

Kanji

腐rot, decay, sour
食eat, food
蝕eclipse, occultation, be defective

Related words· 6

腐ふ敗はいN1sense 1
腐敗 emphasizes putrefaction and foul-smelling decomposition of organic matter, while 腐食 covers a broader range including chemical corrosion of metals.
錆さびN2sense 2
錆 is the everyday word for rust itself, while 腐食 is the broader technical term for the corrosive process that produces it.
腐ふ生せい sense 3
腐生 is the standard biology term for living off decaying matter, essentially synonymous with the saprophagy sense of 腐食.
浸しん食しょく sense 1
浸食 refers specifically to erosion caused by water or wind, whereas 腐食 also includes chemical and biological decay processes.

Show 2 more

錆さびるN2
錆びる specifically means metal rusting from oxidation, while 腐食 is the broader term covering any kind of corrosion or erosion of a material.
酸さん化かN1
酸化 is the precise chemical term for the electron/oxygen reaction itself, while 腐食 refers to the visible corrosion or decay of a material that often results from that reaction.

Don't confuse with

腐ふ乱らん sense 1
腐乱 describes the gruesome decomposition of a corpse or flesh, while 腐食 usually refers to gradual chemical corrosion of materials like metal.
腐ふ敗はいN1
腐食 refers specifically to the chemical corrosion of metals or materials, while 腐敗 refers to the biological decay of organic matter (or, metaphorically, moral/institutional corruption).

Word family

腐ふ食しょく剤ざい
corrosive agent; corrosive substance
腐ふ食しょく性せい
corrosiveness; causticity
腐ふ食しょく薬やく
caustic; corrosive agent; etching reagent; escharotic
応おう力りょく腐ふ食しょく
stress corrosion

Written forms

腐ふ食しょくUsage85%
Standard modern spelling for decay, erosion, and corrosion. Also used for the biological term saprophagy.
腐ふ蝕しょくUsage15%
Older variant using 蝕 (erosion/decay). Still seen in some technical or literary contexts, but 腐食 is preferred in modern writing.

Etymology

Compound of 腐 (rot, decay) and 食 (eat, erode). The variant 腐蝕 uses 蝕 (erosion, eclipse) to emphasize gradual wearing away. The biological sense is a modern coinage based on the same kanji.

Meanings

Usage patterns