競売

• Reading: きょうばい
• Romaji: kyobai
• Kanji breakdown: 競 (kyo) — compete, vie; 売 (bai/uri) — sell
• Pronunciation: /kʲoː.bai/

Meaning

Auction; competitive bidding. A method of selling goods or assets in which prospective buyers submit bids, with the item going to the highest bidder.

In Japanese legal contexts, 競売 often refers specifically to court-supervised forced auctions of seized assets (such as mortgaged real estate). The more general, voluntary auction is sometimes called 入札 (tender/bidding) or the English loanword オークション. 競売にかける means to put something up for auction. Common in real estate, art markets, and government procurement.

Examples

1. 差し押さえられた不動産が裁判所を通じて競売にかけられた。 Seized real estate was put up for auction through the court.
2. 有名画家の作品が競売にかけられ、予想落札価格を大幅に上回る値がついた。 A work by a famous painter was auctioned off, fetching a price far exceeding the pre-sale estimate.
3. 競売制度は公正な価格発見の手段として、国債市場でも広く活用されている。 The auction system is widely used in the government bond market as a means of fair price discovery.

Usage Guide

Context: real estate, court proceedings, art market, government procurement

Tone: official

Origin & History

Compound of 競 (to compete) and 売 (to sell). The idea of competing to sell — or more precisely, competing to buy — is captured in the combination. The term has been used since at least the Meiji era.

Cultural Context

Era: Meiji–Modern

Generation: Adults

Social background: Business/Legal