唾液 Saliva

Meaning

Primary

Saliva

Alternative

Spit

Word Type

noun

Explanation

Saliva fluid sounds really gross, but it's actually just regular ol' saliva — which is still gross, but it's better than solid saliva, right?

In contrast to 唾 (spit), 唾液 is the more formal word for saliva. So you'll see this one more often in medical contexts, like 唾液検査 (saliva test).

Reading

だえき

Explanation

This is a jukugo word, which usually means on'yomi readings from the kanji. You haven't learned the on'yomi reading for 唾 yet, so here's a mnemonic to help:

A cool thing you can do with saliva is test it to see if someone's your dad (だ). What's that? You already know who your dad is? Well… Have you tested his saliva?

Context

Common Word Combinations

• 唾液の〜

  唾液の分ぴつ

  secretion of saliva

  唾液の量

  amount of saliva

  唾液の出

  saliva production

  唾液の減少

  decrease in saliva

• 唾液が〜

  唾液が出る

  saliva comes out

  唾液が分ぴつされる

  saliva is secreted

  唾液が出てくる

  to start salivating

  唾液が減る

  saliva decreases

  唾液が入る

  saliva gets in

• 唾液を〜

  唾液を分ぴつする

  to secrete saliva

  唾液を飲み込む

  to swallow saliva

  唾液を採取する

  to collect saliva

  唾液を混ぜる

  to mix saliva

Context Sentences

唾液は食べ物を消化するのを助けます。

Saliva helps digest food.

その薬は唾液を増やす効果があります。

That medicine increases saliva production.

歯科医に「唾液の出が弱いですね」と言われたんです。

The dentist told me my saliva production is low.

家でもできる唾液検査キットを買いました。

I bought a home saliva test kit.

Kanji Composition

1. 唾

   つば Saliva
2. 液

   えき Fluid