馬ば鈴れい薯しょ

ば

れ

い

しょ

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun

potato (Solanum tuberosum)

Formal or botanical term for potato; in everyday language ジャガイモ is overwhelmingly preferred.

Kanji

馬horse
鈴small bell, buzzer
薯potato
藷potato

Related words

じゃがいもN1
馬鈴薯 is the formal, scientific/agricultural term for the potato, while じゃがいも is the everyday word used in cooking and daily speech.

Word family

馬ば鈴れい薯しょ澱でん粉ぷん
potato starch

Written forms

馬ば鈴れい薯しょ
Standard kanji spelling for potato, though ジャガイモ is far more common in everyday use.
馬ば鈴れい藷しょ
rarely-used kanji form
Rare variant using 藷 instead of 薯; it is rarely used.
バレイショ
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling, often used in botanical or agricultural contexts.

Etymology

The kanji 馬鈴薯 is a Chinese-derived term for potato, literally 'horse-bell tuber', possibly from the shape of the tubers. The reading ばれいしょ is the on'yomi of these characters.