大きに

Japanese

Kanji in this term
大
おお Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Etymology

Appears from the Muromachi period as the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative form”, for adjectives, the adverb form) of adjective 大きな (ōkina).^[1]^[2] Analyzable as 大き (ōki, “great, large”, stem of standard Japanese 大きい (ōkii)) + に (ni, adverbial particle)

The Kansai sense of thank you arose as a clipping of 大きにありがとう, literally 大きに (“greatly”) + ありがとう (arigatō, “thank you”).

Pronunciation

(Osaka) おおきに [òókíꜜ nì] (Nakadaka – [3])
IPA^(key): [o̞ːkʲi ɲ̟i]

Adverb

大(おお)きに • (ōki ni)

greatly, considerably
Synonym: 大いに
generously, bigheartedly

Interjection

大(おお)きに • (ōki ni)

(Kansai, dialect) short for 大きにありがとう: thank you
(in agreement with something someone else has said) completely, absolutely, exactly
大(おお)きに！大(おお)きにその通(とお)り！
Ōki ni! Ōki ni sono tōri!
Exactly! Exactly as you say!

Synonyms

(thank you):

ありがとう (arigatō)
ありがとうございます (arigatō gozaimasu)
どうもありがとう (dōmo arigatō)
どうも (dōmo)
サンキュー (sankyū)

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]