マイカー

Japanese

FWOTD – 27 November 2025

Etymology

Wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism), derived from my +‎ car, equivalent to マイ (mai, “my”) + カー (kā, “car”). This word was coined by Haruo Hamaguchi (浜口治男) in 1956 and used widely after the book “マイ・カー” by Yoshirō Hoshino (星野芳郎) was published in 1961.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) マイカー [màíꜜkàà] (Nakadaka – [2])^[2]
(Tokyo) マイカー [màíkáꜜà] (Nakadaka – [3])^[3]^[2]^[4]
IPA^(key): [ma̠ika̠ː]

Noun

マイカー • (maikā)

A privately-owned car.
- 2020 May 20, “教(きょう)習(しゅう)所(じょ)では教(おし)えてくれない！初(しょ)心(しん)者(しゃ)やペーパードライバーが公(こう)道(どう)デビュー前(まえ)に知(し)っておくべき１２(じゅうに)のマナー”, in Web Cartop‎^[1]:
  
  とくに、小(ちい)さな子(こ)供(ども)のいる家(か)庭(てい)でマイカー移(い)動(どう)のメリットが見(み)直(なお)されているという。
  Toku ni, chīsana kodomo no iru katei de maikā idō no meritto ga minaosarete iru to iu.
  In particular, families with small children are reassessing the benefits of traveling by their own car.

Synonyms

自(じ)家(か)用(よう)車(しゃ) (jikayōsha)

References

^ “マイカーとは”, in コトバンク, 28 May 2020 (last accessed)
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[1] “マイカーとは”, in コトバンク, 28 May 2020 (last accessed)

[DJS-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-3] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-4] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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[2]

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