生き甲斐

Japanese

Kanji in this term
生	甲	斐
い Grade: 1	か > が Grade: S	い Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi	irregular

Alternative spellings
生甲斐生きがい

Etymology

Compound of 生きる (ikiru, “to live, to exist”) +‎ 甲斐 (kai, “worth, value”). The kai changes to gai as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) いきがい [ìkígáí] (Heiban – [0])[1][2]
(Tokyo) いきがい [ìkígáꜜì] (Nakadaka – [3])[1][2]
IPA^(key): [ikʲiɡa̠i]

Noun

生(い)き甲(が)斐(い) • (ikigai) ^{←いきがひ (ikigafi)^?}

A reason for living; one's purpose; raison d'être.
生(い)き甲(が)斐(い)を見(み)つけたい。
Ikigai o mitsuketai.
I want to find my life's purpose.

References

Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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