The Meaning of taiseki [体積] In Japanese

体積
たいせき
Romaji: taiseki N4

What does 体積 mean?

Translation and Meaning

volume, capacity

Definition

体積 means the three-dimensional amount of space that a physical object occupies or could contain; in physics and geometry it denotes the size in three-dimensional space, and it is measured in cubic units.

Type

noun (名詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • volume in the sense of the three-dimensional size of a solid or gas
  • capacity or space inside a container or enclosure
  • abstract measure of a region’s size in three-dimensional space used in physics and geometry

Etymology

体 (tai) and 積 (seki) combine in on’yomi to form taiseiki, a Sino-Japanese compound used to denote the three-dimensional measure of space.

Composition

  • 体 — body, form
  • 積 — to pile up, accumulate

Usage

Used in formal, scientific, and technical Japanese to refer to the volume of a body or space; in everyday language it appears mainly when discussing containers or architectural dimensions; it collocates with units such as cubic meters and liters.
💡 Tips
Imagine a body gathering space around it as blocks stack up; the more blocks stacked around the body, the larger the space it occupies, which is its volume.

Variations

  • 容積 (yoseki) — alternative kanji for volume; used in technical contexts
  • 容量 (yōryō) — capacity; related concept referring to how much something can hold, not the geometric size

Example Phrases

  • この コップ の 体積 を 測る の を 手伝って ください。
    kono koppu no taiseki o hakaru no o tetsudatte kudasai.
    Please help me measure the volume of this cup.
    Lista:
    • この (kono) – this
    • コップ (koppu) – cup
    • の (no) – of
    • 体積 (taiseki) – volume
    • を (o) – object marker
    • 測る (hakaru) – to measure
    • の (no) – nominalizer
    • を (o) – object marker
    • 手伝って (tetsudatte) – help
    • ください (kudasai) – please
    Core grammar: 「体積」 is a noun meaning volume; in this sentence it follows の to form ‘the volume of this cup’ and it is the object of 測る.
体積