靴くつ

Written forms

• 靴くつUsage91%

  Standard kanji spelling for shoes and footwear.

• くつUsage4%
• 沓くつUsage2%
  rarely-used kanji form

  Rarely used kanji form; may appear in older texts.

• クツUsage2%
• 履くつUsage1%
  rarely-used kanji form

  Rarely used kanji form; may appear in older texts.

• 鞋くつUsage<1%
  rarely-used kanji form

  Rarely used kanji form; may appear in older texts.

Kanji

• 靴shoes
• 沓shoes, boots
• 履perform, complete, footgear
• 鞋straw sandals

Similar words

• スニーカー

  Specifically sneakers or athletic shoes, a subset of 靴.

• ブーツ

  Boots; 靴 can also mean boots, but ブーツ is more specific.

• 下げ駄た

  Traditional wooden clogs; a type of footwear but distinct from modern 靴.

Etymology

The kanji 靴 is a phono-semantic compound with 革 (leather) and 化 (change), originally referring to leather footwear. The reading くつ is a native Japanese word of uncertain origin.