パラソル
Confidentparasoru
parasol; sun umbrella
katakana
Origin
- Source language
- French (fr)
- Source form
- parasol
- Borrowing route
- フランス語服飾・生活語 → 日本語の日傘語へ
- Semantic shift
- 日よけ傘 → 日傘・ビーチ用の大型傘
- First attested
- 1900
Story
Shogakukan records パラソル from English parasol, and the related French parasol is traced by CNRTL to Italian parasole. CNRTL lists a French maritime use in 1540 and a portable object in the late 16th century. Merriam-Webster gives French as the immediate source of English parasol and explains Italian para plus sole, "sun." In Japanese print, Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites Tokutomi Roka's Hototogisu from 1898-99.
The word is part of Meiji clothing and daily-life vocabulary, especially the period when 洋傘 appears with 和傘, 雨傘, and 日傘. Seisenban marks it as a summer kigo. Japanese パラソル has a narrower sense: a sunshade, not a general umbrella, and later a beach item. ビーチパラソル becomes a set phrase for a large fixed sun umbrella at seaside resorts.
Modern Japanese uses パラソル for a woman's sun umbrella, a cafe-table shade, or a beach umbrella, depending on context. English parasol usually means a light sun umbrella held by hand, while Japanese パラソル can also name the larger object on sand or a terrace. French usage also distinguishes parasol from ombrelle in some hand-sunshade contexts. Example: ビーチパラソルを借りる means renting a large shade at the beach, not an ordinary rain umbrella.