膚

skin

Kanji 1757

“A chameleon can change its skin color and blend in with surrounding trees.” “Ayako’s skin is sensitive to chemicals.” “My son’s skin breaks out easily.” “This cloth has a nice texture.” Discover how to say all these things while discovering the etymology of 膚, which seems to contain “tiger” and "stomach.” Find out about an idiom involving “unwounded skin,” and see how people refer to “autumn chill” even in spring.

Revision history:

Aug. 23, 2024: 

• p. 2: There are actually 4 Joyo kanji that mean "skin," so I added this comment: "The 革 kanji, which primarily means 'leather,' symbolizes animal skin.
• p. 7: Changed the def. of 枯れ肌 to "dry, withered skin."
• p. 10: Added this comment: "Whereas はだ is common as a reading of 肌/膚, the archaic はだえ is now unused."
• p. 10–11: Revised comments about how 肌寒い/膚寒い relates to autumn.
• p. 12 sidebar: Added 白肌 as the primary rendering of しらはだ.
• p. 13: Changed the breakdown of 地肌/地膚 to "natural + skin."
• p. 13: Changed the def. of 肌触り/膚触り to "feeling on the skin; texture" and slightly modified the subsequent paragraph.

Feb. 17, 2022: 

• pp. 1 and 2, Etymology Box: Updated the Henshall etymology and then revised the etymological discussion on p. 1.
• p. 15: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

Feb. 1, 2019: Originally published.