何より

Japanese

Kanji in this term
何
なに
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Etymology

Literally "more ... than anything".

Pronunciation

Noun

何(なに)より • (nani yori) 

  1. best; above all; the most important; nothing better
    順調(じゅんちょう)そうで何(なに)よりです。
    Junchō sō de nani yori desu.
    I am glad to see that things are going well.
    • 1906, 伊藤左千夫, 野菊の墓‎, 青空文庫:
      この日初(ひはじ)めて民子(たみこ)を女(おんな)として思(おも)ったのが、僕(ぼく)に邪念(じゃねん)の萌芽(めざし)ありし何(なに)よりの証拠(しょうこ)じゃ。
      Kono hi hajimete Tamiko o onna to shite omotta no ga, boku ni janen no mezashi arishi nani yori no shōko ja.
      That I thought of Tamiko as a woman today for the first time was proof above all else that impure thoughts had sprouted within me.

Adverb

何(なに)より • (nani yori) 

  1. above all; more than anything else
    何(なに)より楽(たの)しい/何(なに)よりも楽(たの)しい
    nani yori tanoshii / nani yori mo tanoshii
    more fun than anything else

Usage notes

  • Can be used in the form 何(なに)よりも (nani yori mo).

References

  1. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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