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Etymology 1
.

Etymology 3
Borrowed from.

Definitions

 * 1) donburi

Etymology 1




Multiple possible derivations.
 * During the Edo period, restaurants specializing in large portions were called, from + . The serving bowls were called , literally “greedy” + “in that fashion” + “bowl”. The ken portion was elided, producing donburi-bachi, and then the -hachi was dropped to produce donburi.
 * Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, donburi in reference to “a bowl filled with large amount of food” may be cognate with, an onomatopoeia of something heavy plunking into deep water, or something big and soft plopping down, related to onomatopoeia , , , and , all of generally similar meanings. The food starts with a large portion of rice, also referred to as , which could be analyzed as “plopped-down rice”.
 * Donburi is also used to refer to something “rough, approximate, not finely worked”, as in the phrase . This is consistent with a derivation from the onomatopoeia, but not from the restaurant terms.

The kanji spelling shows with a dot in the center, possibly indicating something thrown into the well. This could suggest that the 🇨🇬 reading tom$X$ may similarly derive from onomatopoeia.

Noun

 * 1) a simple large bowl for serving food
 * 2) a one-bowl meal served in a donburi bowl, consisting of a large portion of rice, covered in a meat or fish

Usage notes
To disambiguate, speakers may refer more specifically to donburibachi for the bowl, and donburi mono for the food.

English-language sources often refer to the food as similar to stew served over rice. Note, however, that stews consist of meat, fish, and/or vegetables cooked in a liquid and served with the sauce, whereas donburi toppings may be relatively dry, as in tempura donburi or beef donburi, or even uncooked, as in tekkadon (tuna sashimi donburi).

Synonyms




Derived terms

 * : a simple large bowl for serving food
 * : a large helping of rice served in a donburi bowl
 * : a one-bowl meal consisting of a large portion of rice, covered in a meat or fish
 * : a one-bowl meal consisting of a large portion of rice, covered in a meat or fish

Etymology 2
Abbreviation of donburi above.

Pronunciation

 * When used as a suffix, the resulting term has a or type 0 pitch accent pattern.

Noun

 * 1) donburi: a one-bowl meal consisting of a large portion of rice, covered in a meat or fish

Usage notes
Seldom used as an independent noun. More commonly encountered as a suffix.

Suffix

 * 1) donburi: a one-bowl meal consisting of a large portion of rice, covered in a meat or fish

Derived terms

 * : eel donburi
 * : literally “parent and child donburi”: chicken and egg donburi, salmon and salmon roe donburi
 * : beef donburi
 * : tonkatsu donburi
 * : curry donburi
 * : Chinese-style donburi
 * : tuna sashimi donburi
 * : tempura donburi
 * : pork donburi