ブーケ

1914 is the Japanese dictionary point for ブーケ: Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites Gairaigo Jiten for the meaning 'small bunch of flowers.' The source form is French bouquet. CNRTL gives a fifteenth-century French sense for an assemblage of flowers, and Larousse also lists a wine-aroma sense and a group-of-trees sense. Daijisen lists perfume and wine senses in Japanese too. Bouquet garni remains a separate culinary French term. The word entered Japanese through modern flower, fashion, wedding, and gift vocabulary, where French terms had status beside コサージュ, ブートニア, パルファン, and ワイン. Its meaning narrowed in daily Japanese toward arranged flowers for ceremonies and presents, while the perfume and wine senses stayed more specialized. Bridal magazines, hotel chapels, florist catalogs, and rental shops reinforced the wedding sense in urban consumer Japanese after the postwar wedding industry grew. Modern ブーケ usually means a bouquet held by a bride, given as a present, or arranged by a florist. English bouquet also has the wine smell meaning, and French bouquet has several senses, including trees, fireworks, herbs, and television channel packages. Japanese speakers normally choose 花束 for a plain bunch and ブーケ for a designed arrangement. Example: 花嫁のブーケ.