tokonoma
[ toh-kuh-noh-muh ]
noun
(in Japanese architecture) a shallow alcove for the display of kakemonos or flower arrangements.
Origin of tokonoma
11895–1900; <Japanese, equivalent to toko (raised) floor + -no grammatical particle + ma room
Words Nearby tokonoma
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use tokonoma in a sentence
The third wall, a solid one of smoke-blue plaster, held the niche called "tokonoma," where pictures are hung and flower vases set.
The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil FenollosaKano sat as she had left him, motionless, now, as the white jade vase within the tokonoma.
The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil FenollosaAt right angles to this wall I can see the tokonoma recess—a yard deep and two yards long and nearly as high as the room.
A Journal from Japan | Marie Carmichael StopesIn her tokonoma she had just hung up a Japanese painting representing a moonlight scene.
Lafcadio Hearn | Nina H. KennardIn a Japanese room the timber upright alongside the tokonoma is always a tree trunk in the rough.
The Foundations of Japan | J.W. Robertson Scott
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