お宅

おたく · otaku · JLPT N4 · noun

house

お宅 — house

🏠 お宅 = honorific o + taku (residence): your honourable home

宅 (taku) means residence, as in 自宅 (jitaku, one's own home) and 帰宅 (kitaku, going home). Adding polite お makes it someone else's home. The slang otaku (obsessive fan) grew from fans addressing each other with this stiff, formal word.

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