寝粉

Japanese
Kanji in this term
寝 粉
ね
Grade: S		 こ
Grade: 5
kun’yomi
Alternative spelling
寢粉 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

First cited to a text from 1788.[1]

Appears to be a compound of 寝 (ne, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of 寝る (neru, “to sleep”)) +‎ 粉 (ko, “flour; powder”), from the way that that rice that sits for a long time goes bad.

The sense of "indissoluble grains of dissolved udon flour" has been hypothesized to be a contraction of 陳粉 (hine-ko, literally “old + flour”).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

寝(ね)粉(こ) • (neko) 

  1. [from 1788] (cooking) flour that is too old to be used or eaten (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)
  2. [unknown] indissoluble grains formed from dissolved udon flour in water (whether boiled or not) (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

References
  1. “ね‐こ 【寝粉】”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”) ‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here (Note: Dialectal meanings, etymological theories, pronunciation including modern, dialectal, and historical information, Jōdai Tokushu Kanazukai, historical dictionaries containing this word, and the kanji spellings in those dictionaries have been omitted.)
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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