おか

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
丘おか 岡おか (only in proper nouns)

/woka/ → /oka/

From Old Japanese. Attested in the Kojiki of 712 and the Man'yōshū of 759.

In turn, possibly originally a compound of 峰みね (wo, “high place, a height”) +‎ 処しょ (ka, suffixing element denoting "place").

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おか [òká] (Heiban – [0]) (noun)
• (Tokyo) おか [óꜜkà] (Atamadaka – [1]) (proper noun)
• IPA^(key): [o̞ka̠]

Noun

おか • (oka) ^{←をか (woka)?}

1. hill

   丘おか(おか)を下した(くだ)る

   oka o kudaru

   to go down a hill

Derived terms

• 岡おか(おか)山やま(やま) (Okayama)
• 福ぶく(ふく)岡おか(おか) (Fukuoka)

See also

• 坂さか(さか) (saka, “slope”)

Proper noun

おか • (Oka) ^{←をか (woka)?}

1. a surname

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
陸りく 岡おか (rare)

Appears to be a shift in sense of 岡おか・丘おか (oka, “hill”). First attested in a text from 1310.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) おか [òká] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [o̞ka̠]

Noun

おか • (oka) ^{←をか (woka)?}

1. [from 1310] land, ground (as opposed to the sea or other bodies of water)

   Synonyms: 陸地りくち (rikuchi), 陸りく (riku), くにが (kuniga), くぬが (kunuga), くが (kuga)

2. [from 1708] the bathing area next to an お風呂ふろ (ofuro, “traditional Japanese soaking tub”), often raised relative to the tub basin
3. [from 1873] the raised portion of a 硯すずり (suzuri, “inkstone”) where one grinds the stick of India ink (as opposed to the 池いけ (ike, literally “pond”) or 海うみ (umi, literally “sea”), the small depressed basin area where one pours in the water)

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• おかー (okā)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [o̞ka̠]

Interjection

おか • (oka) 

1. (Internet slang) short for おかえり (okaeri): welcome back, welcome home