Translation and Meaning of: 費用 - hiyou

The Japanese word 「費用」 (hiyou) is commonly used to refer to any type of expense or cost. It is composed of two kanji: 「費」 and 「用」. The kanji 「費」 (hi) means "to spend, expense" and can also be found in words related to expenses, such as 「消費」 (shouhi, consumption). The kanji 「用」 (you) means "use, service" and is frequently used to indicate the purpose or use of something. Together, they form a broad term that encompasses various forms of spending, such as operational costs, personal expenses, and others.

Regarding etymology, the kanji 「費」 is related to the way resources are utilized or spent, being composed of the radical 「貝」, which originally means "shell" or "money," representing something of value. The kanji 「用」 carries the radical 「用」, which historically indicates the employment or use of a product or service. Thus, the combination of these characters expresses the idea of using resources for a specific purpose, implying associated costs.

The origin of this expression dates back to ancient times when Chinese writing began to influence the Japanese language. The use of kanji borrowed from Chinese allowed for the creation of complex terms that described more elaborate financial and economic concepts, as is the case with 「費用」. Over time, the term became established in the Japanese language, reflecting both in everyday contexts and in business environments. In official and informal documents, the word can be found to define anything from personal expenses to corporate budgets.

Besides general usage, 「費用」 can also appear in conjunction with other terms to create more specific expressions, such as 「医療費用」 (iryou hiyou, medical expenses) and 「教育費用」 (kyouiku hiyou, educational expenses). These variations serve to specify the type of expenditure, adjusting the term to distinct contexts. Knowing this vocabulary is essential for those who wish to understand personal finance and resource management in Japanese.

Vocabulary

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Synonyms and similar words

• 費用 (Hiyou) - Total expenses or costs related to a service or product.
• コスト (Kosuto) - Cost in financial terms, often used in a business context to describe production expenses.
• 料金 (Ryoukin) - Cost or fee charged for a specific service, such as transportation or admission.
• 出費 (Shuppi) - Expenses or costs, generally referring to money that has left an account.
• 費用負担 (Hiyou Futan) - Responsibility for bearing costs or expenses.
• 費用負担額 (Hiyou Futan-gaku) - Specific value of the responsibility for costs or expenses.

費用

Romaji: hiyou
Kana: ひよう
Type: noun
L: jlpt-n3

Translation / Meaning: custo; despesa

Meaning in English: cost;expense

Definition: Money or paid effort to obtain goods or services.

Example Sentences - (費用) hiyou

See below some example sentences:

費用が高いです。

Hiyou ga takai desu

The cost is high.

• 費用 - It means "cost" in Japanese.
• が - is a grammatical particle that indicates the subject of the sentence.
• 高い - It means "tall" or "expensive" in Japanese.
• です - It is a polite way of saying "is" or "are" in Japanese.

送料は商品の配送費用です。

Souryou wa shouhin no haisou hiyou desu

Freight is the cost of shipping the product.

The shipping fee is the cost of delivery of the product.

• 送料 - It means "shipping cost" in Japanese.
• は - It is a Japanese grammatical particle that indicates the topic of the sentence, in this case, "shipping cost".
• 商品 - It means "product" in Japanese.
• の - It is a Japanese grammatical particle that indicates possession or relationship between two words, in this case, "product" and "shipping cost".
• 配送 - It means "delivery" in Japanese.
• 費用 - It means "cost" in Japanese.
• です - It is a polite way to say "is" in Japanese.