Meaning

Primary

To Eat

Alternative

To Drink

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

You've learned that 召す can mean "to take" when a social higher-up takes a meal or a drink. Now you're adding 上がる (to go up), so you've got the added image of the food or drink rising up to their mouth. In other words, this is a respectful way of saying to eat or to drink.

Reading

めしあがる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

This is a combination of the words 召す and 上がる that you've learned already.召す becomes 召し and then you add 上がる to it. Pretty straightforward, right?

Context

Context Sentences

もしよければお召し上がり下さい。

Please eat if you’d like.

Kanji Composition