石鹸

• 読み: せっけん
• ローマ字: sekken
• 漢字の分解: 石 (seki/ishi) — stone, rock; 鹸 (ken) — lye, alkaline
• 発音: /se.kkeɴ/

意味

Soap. A basic household item used for washing hands and body.

Though the kanji 石鹸 exists, this word is also commonly written in katakana as セッケン or hiragana as せっけん. It refers to bar soap and liquid soap alike. At N5 level, learners encounter this word in daily hygiene and household vocabulary.

例文

1. 手を石鹸で洗ってください。
2. 新しい石鹸はいい匂いがします。
3. 石鹸がなくなりました。

使い方ガイド

場面: bathroom, hygiene, shopping

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Borrowed from Portuguese 'sabão' during the 16th century when European traders introduced soap to Japan. The kanji 石鹸 are ateji (phonetic kanji), where 石 means 'stone' and 鹸 means 'lye.'

文化的背景

時代: Early Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal