Translation guide
The English word 'patchwork' refers to a sewing technique, a mixture of diverse elements, or something made of irregular parts. This guide helps learners express these ideas naturally in Japanese.
To refer to the craft of sewing together pieces of fabric to form a larger design, or the resulting item.
The most common and direct loanword for the sewing technique or the resulting quilted item. Used in crafts and hobbies.
祖母はパッチワークのキルトを作るのが趣味です。
My grandmother's hobby is making patchwork quilts.
Literally 'patching and piecing together'. Can refer to patchwork sewing, but often implies mending or making do with scraps. More general than パッチワーク.
古い布を継ぎ接ぎして、かばんを作った。
I made a bag by patching together old cloth.
Specifically a patchwork quilt. Used when the quilt aspect is important.
このパッチワークキルトは手作りです。
This patchwork quilt is handmade.
To describe something made up of many different parts, styles, or influences, often in a varied or eclectic way.
A collection of miscellaneous things brought together; a hodgepodge. Can be slightly negative, implying lack of unity.
この町の建築は寄せ集めのようだ。
The architecture in this town is like a patchwork.
Also used metaphorically for something cobbled together from disparate parts, like a patchwork of ideas or policies.
Often used for a mosaic of cultures, ethnicities, or landscapes. Emphasizes a picture made of distinct pieces.
Literally 'a stew of everything'. A very casual, colorful term for a jumble or medley. Often used for mixed styles or genres.
To describe a visual pattern resembling a patchwork, such as fields seen from above or a variegated surface.
Used as a noun-modifier to describe something that looks like a patchwork pattern. Common in geography or descriptions of landscapes.
飛行機から見ると、田んぼがパッチワーク状に広がっていた。
From the plane, the rice fields spread out in a patchwork pattern.
A mottled or patchy pattern, often of colors or light and shadow. Not specifically about sewing.
雪解けの地面はまだら模様だった。
The ground was a patchwork of melting snow.
パッチワーク is specifically the craft or a quilt, while つぎはぎ can be used for both literal patching (mending clothes) and metaphorical patchwork (a mix of things). つぎはぎ often carries a nuance of makeshift repair or lack of cohesion.
パッチワークは手芸の一種です。
Patchwork is a type of handicraft.
彼の説明はつぎはぎでわかりにくい。
His explanation is a patchwork and hard to understand.
その計画はつぎはぎの政策の集まりだった。
The plan was a patchwork of policies.
この地域は文化のモザイクです。
This region is a patchwork of cultures.
この映画はジャンルのごった煮だ。
This movie is a patchwork of genres.