水
mizu[mʲizɨ]
The Japanese word for water is 水 (mizu).
水 refers to the inorganic compound H₂O. When you need to be more polite, such as when ordering in a restaurant or referring to water belonging to someone else, you can add the honorific prefix to form お水. There are also related verbal expressions: 水で割る and 水で薄める mean to dilute something, while the colloquial terms おしっこする and 小便する are used to mean urinate.
Meaning: inorganic compound H₂O (noun)
Which one should you use?
The word 水 specifically refers to cold or room temperature water. If the water is hot, you should use the word お湯 instead. Additionally, while 水 is the standard term, お水 is a polite version used in social settings.
Related words
How do you pronounce it?
mizu
Did you know?
- Ancient Japanese had a word mopi for water that actually meant 'bowl'. This is a form of metonymy, similar to how an English speaker might ask for a 'cuppa' to mean the tea inside the cup.
- In certain Japanese compounds, the word for water can be read as mi rather than the standard mizu. This occurs frequently when the word is part of a larger construction.
Examples in context
- 水は冷たい？Is the water cold?This sentence shows how to ask if the water is cold using 水.Tatoeba #8796822 by bunbuku, translation #5121227 by crbk92
- 破水しました。My water broke.This sentence uses the character for water in the context of a woman's water breaking.Tatoeba #121648 by small_snow, translation #282357 by ddnktr
- 断水しました。The water has been cut off.This sentence uses the character for water to describe a water outage or being cut off.Tatoeba #127316 by small_snow, translation #276773 by CK
- 「水をお願いします」Water, please.
- 713 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ren and Misaki are at a restaurant.
- 蓮 Renすみません、水をお願いします。Sumimasen, mizu o onegaishimasu.Excuse me, water please.
- 美咲 Misakiはい、今持ってきますね。Hai, ima motte kimasu ne.Yes, I'll bring it right now.
- 蓮 Renありがとうございます。Arigatou gozaimasu.Thank you very much.
- 美咲 Misakiこちらが水です。どうぞ。Kochira ga mizu desu. Douzo.Here is the water. Please have some.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “water” translations and entries 水, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 水, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
