丑三つ時

Japanese

Kanji in this term
丑	三	時
うし Jinmeiyō	み Grade: 1	とき > どき Grade: 2
on’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 丑三つ (ushimitsu, “the third of four portions of the 刻 (koku, “two-hour unit of time”) of ushi”) +‎ 時 (toki, “time”). The toki changes to doki as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

In the old traditional Japanese method of timekeeping, the day was divided into twelve 刻 (koku) of two hours apiece, one for each of the twelve branches of the zodiac. One koku could be divided into four equal periods of thirty minutes apiece.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) うしみつどき [ùshímítsúdókí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) うしみつ​どき [ùshímítsúꜜdòkì] (Nakadaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝɕimʲit͡sɨᵝdo̞kʲi]

Noun

丑(うし)三(み)つ時(どき) • (ushimitsudoki) 

1. (archaic) the time between and 2:00 AM and 2:30 AM, or between 3:00 AM and 3:30 AM, depending on the timekeeping tradition in use
2. (poetic, by extension) the middle of the night, late night

Synonyms

• 丑三(うしみ)つ (ushimitsu)