焼く

• Reading: やく
• Romaji: yaku
• Kanji breakdown: 焼 (yaku) — to burn, grill (火 = fire radical)
• Pronunciation: /ja.kɯ/

Meaning

To grill; to bake; to roast; to fry. A versatile cooking verb for applying dry heat.

A Group 1 (godan) verb with an extremely wide range of cooking applications: grilling meat (肉を焼く), baking bread (パンを焼く), frying eggs (卵を焼く), and roasting vegetables. Also used in compound words like 焼き魚 (grilled fish) and 焼肉 (yakiniku/grilled meat).

Examples

1. 庭でお肉を焼いてバーベキューをしました。 We grilled meat in the yard and had a barbecue.
2. 毎朝食パンをトースターで焼きます。 I toast bread in the toaster every morning.
3. 卵を焼いてお弁当に入れました。 I fried an egg and put it in my lunch box.

Usage Guide

Context: cooking, barbecue, daily life

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

From Old Japanese. The kanji 焼 combines 火 (fire) and 尭 (high, elevated), evoking the image of flames rising. One of the oldest cooking verbs in the language.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal