How to say "bone" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 骨ほねnounThe everyday word for a bone, whether in the body, in fish, or at a burial site. If you simply mean 'bone' in an ordinary sentence, this is almost always the word you want.
- nounThe katakana loanword for 'bone'. It largely overlaps with 骨 but is heard in borrowed contexts such as product or character names; it is seldom the word you want in ordinary prose.
- 硬骨こうこつnounA technical term for hard bone tissue, used in medical and anatomical writing in contrast with cartilage or soft tissue. Not the usual way to refer to a bone in everyday speech.
Use 骨 for the ordinary everyday sense of bone; 「ボーン」 is the borrowed word used mainly in casual or loanword contexts, and 硬骨 refers to hard bone tissue as a technical term.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
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