黄おう土ど

Archaic Buddhist term for the realm of the dead. Only used with the reading こうど. Not used in modern Japanese outside of historical or religious texts.

古こ典てんでは「黄こう土ど」を「こうど」と読よみ、冥めい界かいを指さすことがある。
In classical texts, 黄土 is read as こうど and can refer to the underworld.

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Kanji

黄yellow
土soil, earth, ground

Related words

黄泉よみ
黄泉 is the more common native Japanese word for the underworld or land of the dead, while 黄土 (こうど) is an archaic Buddhist term.

Word family

黄おう土ど色いろ
ocher; ochre

Written forms

黄土Usage100%
- おうど
  Standard kanji spelling for the common reading おうど. Used for loess and yellow ochre.
- こうど
  Archaic reading used only for the underworld sense. Not used in modern Japanese for loess or ochre.
こうど

Etymology

The kanji 黄 (yellow) and 土 (earth) directly describe the color and material. The reading おうど is the standard Sino-Japanese reading. The archaic reading こうど for the underworld sense is a specialized Buddhist term; its exact derivation is uncertain.