The word in resembles a Japanese negative ("there is no "), but may have originally been used as an emphatic ("tremendous "). itself is a noun appearing as such in, for example, the dictionary "", which dates to 1444. "Daigenkai" gives as an alternate reading of the word, and it appears written with the kanji , , , , or . It means (i) the shape/form of a thing or (ii) something that is, or the fact of being, impressive or imposing (; ). The compound that is pronounced as in Japanese appears in Sino-Japanese dictionaries as a Chinese word in a sense similar to (ii), but does not, as it is an indigenous Japanese word.