tokonoma

[ toh-kuh-noh-muh ]

noun
  1. (in Japanese architecture) a shallow alcove for the display of kakemonos or flower arrangements.

Origin of tokonoma

1
1895–1900; <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. 2024

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 Fenollosa
  • Kano sat as she had left him, motionless, now, as the white jade vase within the tokonoma.

    The Dragon Painter | Mary McNeil Fenollosa
  • At 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 Stopes
  • In her tokonoma she had just hung up a Japanese painting representing a moonlight scene.

    Lafcadio Hearn | Nina H. Kennard
  • In 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