Standard Lemma guide

haboku

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • US: /hɑˈboʊ.ku/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A technique of using splashed ink in brushwork painting, especially for painting a landscape.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 1979, John M. Rosenfield & William Jay Rathbun, Song of the Brush: Japanese paintings from the Sansō Collection, Seattle Art Museum The haboku idiom had appeared in South China in the thirteenth century, and appealed greatly to visiting Japanese Zen Buddhists, who took examples back with them.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Japanese 破墨 (haboku はぼく), from Middle Chinese 破 (phà "broken up") + 墨 (mok "ink") (compare Mandarin pòmò 破墨, Cantonese po3-mak6 破墨).