# 団子
## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Kanji in this term :
| 団 | 子 |
| だん Grade: 5 | こ > ご Grade: 1 |
| jūbakoyomi ||
* Alternative spelling
* 團子 (kyūjitai)
This kind of dumpling confection appears in the historical record as 団喜 (danki) at least as early as the mid-1000s in the Heian period, possibly imported from China by envoys returning from visits to China during the Tang Dynasty. In the late-1200s, the term appears in the 厨事類記 (Chūjiruiki, Japan's oldest cookbook, completed around 1295) with the modern spelling 団子, but with a consistent Chinese-derived on'yomi reading of dansu. That reading then shifted to dango during the Muromachi period, adopting the native Japanese reading of ko for the second character, undergoing regular rendaku (連濁) to become go.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) だんご [dàńgó] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [dã̠ŋɡo̞]

#### Noun

団(だん)子(ご) • (dango)
* a dango (round sticky dumpling made from uruchi (non-glutinous) rice flour mixed with glutinous rice flour)
** 2011 February 9, Hideaki Sorachi, “第(だい)三(さん)百(びやく)三(さん)十(じゅう)四(よん)訓(くん)　銭(せん)湯(とう)では身(み)も心(こころ)も丸(まる)裸(はだか) [Lesson 334: Our Bodies and Souls Are All Naked in the Public Baths]”, in 銀(ぎん)魂(たま) [Silver Soul], volume 38 (fiction), Tokyo: Shueisha, →ISBN:
    もう限(げん)界(かい)だ‼チ○コも寒(さむ)さで縮(ちぢ)んでただの団(だん)子(ご)三(さん)兄(きょう)弟(だい)みたいになってんぞ‼
       Mō genkai da‼ Chi○ko mo samusa de chijinde tada no dango sankyōdai mitai ni natten zo‼
       I’ve reached my limit! My d*ck’s shrunk because of cold and now it’s like the three dango brothers down there!
* (by extension) something round as a ball
* (colloquial) a bunch, lump
* (colloquial) a bullet
    Synonyms: 銃弾 (jūdan), 弾丸 (dangan)
* a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with designs of dango on skewers
* (board games, go, derogatory) an inefficient clump of stones

##### Derived terms

* 団(だん)子(ご)烏賊(いか) (dangoika, “bobtail squid”)
* 団(ダン)子(ゴ)魚(ウオ) (dangouo)
* 団(だん)子(ご)下(おろし), 団(だん)子(ご)降(お)ろし (dango oroshi): a custom in the Kantō and Chūbu regions where dango set out as decoration for 小正月 (Koshōgatsu, “Little New Year”) on January 15 are taken down and eaten
* 団(だん)子(ご)坂(ざか) (Dangozaka)
* 団(だん)子(ご)挿(さし), 団(だん)子(ご)挿(さ)し (dangosashi)
* 団(だん)子(ご)状(じょう) (dangojō)
* 団(だん)子(ご)提(ちょう)灯(ちん) (dango chōchin, “small lantern in the shape of a dango”)
* 団(だん)子(ご)花(ばな) (dangobana): dango decorations set out for 小正月 (Koshōgatsu, “Little New Year”) on January 15
* 団(だん)子(ご)鼻(ばな) (dangobana, “squat and broad nose”)
* 団(だん)子(ご)火(び)矢(や) (dangobiya, “gun”, archaic)
* 団(だん)子(ご)虫(むし) (dangomushi, “woodlouse that can curl up into a ball”)
* 団(だん)子(ご)飯(めし) (dangomeshi, “funerary offering of dango”)
* 団(だん)子(ご)屋(や) (dangoya, “dango shop, dango maker”)
* 団(だん)子(ご)レース (dango rēsu)
* 編(あ)み笠(がさ)団(だん)子(ご) (amigasa dango)
* 菖蒲(あやめ)団(だん)子(ご) (ayame dango)
* 粟(あわ)団(だん)子(ご) (awadango)
* 糸(いと)切(きり)団(だん)子(ご), 糸(いと)切(き)り団(だん)子(ご) (itokiri dango)
* 田舎(いなか)団(だん)子(ご) (inaka dango)
* 浮(うき)世(よ)団(だん)子(ご) (ukiyo dango)
* 送(おく)り団(だん)子(ご) (okuridango)
* 花(か)粉(ふん)団(だん)子(ご) (kafun dango)
* かんかち団(だん)子(ご) (kankachi dango)
* 黍(きび)団(だん)子(ご), 吉(き)備(び)団(だん)子(ご) (kibidango)
* 草(くさ)団子(だんご) (kusadango)
* 串(くし)団子(だんご) (kushidango)
* 葛(くず)団子(だんご) (kuzudango)
* 言(こと)問(とい)団(だん)子(ご) (kototoi dango)
* 細(さい)胞(ぼう)団(だん)子(ご) (saibō dango)
* 笹(ささ)団(だん)子(ご) (sasadango)
* 杉(すぎ)団(だん)子(ご) (sugidango)
* 月(つき)見(み)団(だん)子(ご) (tsukimi dango)
* 土(つち)団(だん)子(ご) (tsuchidango)
* 十(とお)団(だん)子(ご) (tōdango)
* 鳥(とり)毛(げ)団(だん)子(ご) (torige dango)
* 肉(にく)団(だん)子(ご) (nikudango)
* 二十(はつ)日(か)団(だん)子(ご) (hatsuka dango)
* 早(はや)団(だん)子(ご) (hayadango)
* 彼(ひ)岸(がん)団(だん)子(ご) (higan dango)
* 硼(ほう)酸(さん)団(だん)子(ご) (hōsan dango)
* 枕(まくら)団(だん)子(ご) (makuradango)
* 繭(まゆ)団(だん)子(ご) (mayudango)
* 御(み)手洗(たらし)団(だん)子(ご) (Mitarashi dango)
* 土産(みやげ)団(だん)子(ご) (miyagedango)
* 迎(むか)え団(だん)子(ご) (mukaedango)
* 蜀(もろ)黍(こし)団(だん)子(ご) (morokoshi dango)
* 焼(やき)団(だん)子(ご), 焼(や)き団(だん)子(ご) (yakidango)

##### Idioms

* 団(だん)子(ご)にする (dango ni suru)
* 団(だん)子(ご)に目(め)鼻(はな) (dango ni mehana, “a dango with eyes and nose → a round face”)
* 花(はな)より団(だん)子(ご) (hana yori dango, “dango instead of flowers → indicating a preference for the practical over the purely aesthetic”)

##### See also
### Etymology 2

Kanji in this term :
| 団 | 子 |
| だん > だ Grade: 5 | こ > ご Grade: 1 |
| irregular | kun'yomi |
* Alternative spelling
* 團子 (kyūjitai)
Shift from standard Japanese dango: /daɴɡo/ → /daɡo/

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [da̠ɡo̞]

#### Noun

団(だ)子(ご) • (dago)
* (dialect, Kagoshima) a dango (round sticky dumpling made from flour)

### References

* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* ↑ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN