お酒

• Reading: おさけ
• Romaji: osake
• Kanji breakdown: 酒 (shu/sake) — alcohol, sake
• Pronunciation: /o.sa.ke/

Meaning

Alcohol; alcoholic drink; sake. A general term for alcoholic beverages.

Can refer to any alcoholic drink in general, or specifically to Japanese rice wine (日本酒/nihonshu). The お prefix is honorific and almost always used in daily speech. Drinking culture is important in Japanese social and business life, with nomikai (drinking parties) being common workplace events.

Examples

1. お酒は飲みますか。 Do you drink alcohol?
2. 昨日お酒を飲みすぎました。 I drank too much yesterday.
3. 二十歳からお酒が飲めます。 You can drink alcohol from the age of twenty.

Usage Guide

Context: social gatherings, restaurants, daily life

Tone: neutral

Origin & History

From 酒 (sake/shu), an ancient Japanese word for fermented rice beverage. The kanji 酒 combines the water radical 氵 with 酉, which depicts a fermentation vessel. Rice wine production in Japan dates back over 2,000 years.

Cultural Context

Era: Ancient

Generation: Adults

Social background: Universal