How to say "hardwood" in Japanese

• 堅木かたぎ
  nounHardwood in the literal sense of hard wood; the native reading かたぎ gives it a plain, descriptive flavor. It is less common, so it is seldom the word a learner actually needs.
• 硬木こうぼく
  nounThe same literal idea — hard wood — in a Sino-Japanese compound; the on-reading lends a technical, written-language flavor. It too is less common, and reads as bookish rather than conversational.
  木工芸もっこうげいでは、木きを、硬こう木もく、軟なん木もくと、唐木とうぼくに分類ぶんるいします。↗

  In woodworking, we classify wood as hardwood, softwood or exotic wood.
• ハードウッド
  nounThe loanword, a katakana rendering of the English term itself. It appears where the English word would — in lumber-trade language, product and material descriptions, and contexts like flooring and furniture.
• 硬材こうざい
  nounHardwood as a class of timber rather than a single piece of wood: 材 means lumber, so this is the forestry and lumber-trade term for hardwood as a material category. Less common overall.

All four are less common equivalents of 'hardwood': 硬材 treats it as a timber category, 「ハードウッド」 is the loanword for trade and product language, while 堅木 and 硬木 literally describe hard wood, the latter more bookish.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 堅木かたぎhardwood
• 硬木こうぼくhardwood
• ハードウッドhardwood
• 硬材こうざいhardwood