逸材

English translation: masterpiece

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Japanese term or phrase:	逸材
English translation:	masterpiece
Entered by:	V N Ganesh

23:15 Mar 13, 2007

Japanese to English translations [PRO]
Marketing - Furniture / Household Appliances / Product literature

Japanese term or phrase: 逸材

From some product literature (probably a pamphlet)
for a piece of traditionally made furniture, there is this
sentence as an opening description:
そのしなやかな美しさと機能性から、
古くは、高貴な身分の人にしか使うことを許されなかった逸材。

Just the very last word, 逸材, has got me. All the
dictionaries define it as "a great talent". Now, does
this mean 逸材 refers to the craftsman? It would
seem that it refers to the piece of furniture, but in that
case 逸材 should be rendered something different,
like "a great work", "an equisite piece of artistry", or
something flowery llike that.

How do I translate 逸材?

Also, anyone know what's up with
http://www.alc.co.jp/ ? The page comes up,
but then it won't return any requests.

Joe L KudoZ activity Questions: 29 (none open) Answers: 105 United States
Local time: 06:46

masterpiece

Explanation:
masterpiece furniture

QA Arm Chair. Pictures of my work are available through either one of the 'gallery' pages. 'Gallery 15' has been scaled to fit on a 15" monitor. ...
www.tonykubalak.com/index_frame.html - 2k

Selected response from:

V N Ganesh
Local time: 18:16

Grading comment

This description does fit with much of the passage, which goes into detail about the craftsmanship and high order of the product. Plus, another "wonderful" person I know suggested this exact same term to me, offline. Thanks, VN.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

3 +1

exceptionally exquisite piece of work

Nozomi Kugita

masterpiece

V N Ganesh

Discussion entries: 12

casey

United States

05:21 Mar 14, 2007

No argument there. ;)

Joe L

United States

ASKER

05:10 Mar 14, 2007

Hey All, ALC and I just kissed and made up! But thanks Casey
for the reminder. I do use other online dics., but there's no
substitute for ALC when it comes to getting contextual examples.

Joe L

United States

ASKER

05:05 Mar 14, 2007

To Rie and Jerry: So it's true that 逸材 must refer to a person...
Yet, in this sentence it does refer to the piece of furniture, right?
Since both of you agree that the word must actually have been 逸品,
I'll proceed assuming that is so. Thank you!

Peishun CHIANG

Japan

03:43 Mar 14, 2007

As Rie-san has said　"逸材" must be used for a person or talent, but not for a thing. The original Japanese must say "逸品".

casey

United States

03:12 Mar 14, 2007

ALC's working for me, but don't forget to try http://trans.glova.jp/index.php when that happens. Also Jim Breene's dictionary http://www.aa.tufs.ac.jp/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

RieM

United States

00:44 Mar 14, 2007

I got through! ALC love me now! Bye ;-)

RieM

United States

00:19 Mar 14, 2007

Oh, no wonder.... I can't even get to the ALC screen from where I am AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Joe, as for the 逸材、I think it is meant to be 逸品. Something that I cannot reach, other than ALC.

Joe L

United States

ASKER

23:40 Mar 13, 2007

THAT was extremely funny!

Can Altinbay

23:32 Mar 13, 2007

I had trouble with ALC for a couple of days, but it's fine today. Probably something like "A rare object that only people of high social position were permitted to use."

KathyT

Australia

23:23 Mar 13, 2007

ALC gives: * 逸材 nonesuch // phenomenon or # 数は少ないが逸材はいまも発掘されている。 A few gems were still being mined. (These are the non-人物 examples, although those should work, too (1 in a thousand/million). HTH

Joe L

United States

ASKER

23:23 Mar 13, 2007

Hi Kathy. I just tried it again--it still hates me... Again, the
page comes up fine, but it just won't return any results.

KathyT

Australia

23:19 Mar 13, 2007

Hi Joe - ALC's working fine over here...

Answers

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

exceptionally exquisite piece of work

Explanation:
You have kinda already answered to your question, so I was not sure if I should note my idea... Anyway, 逸材 is generally used to describe a person with a great talent, but in this context, it is used for a piece of furniture. And so, I would put something like "exceptionally exquisite piece of work." Or need more dressing-up?

By the way, checked the alc.co.jp. It doesn's work for me either. I pinged it and request got timed out.

Nozomi Kugita
United States
Local time: 08:46
Native speaker of:

Japanese

Notes to answerer

Asker: Nozomi, Thank you so much. I was very tempted to go with your answer, it affirms my idea!. But as I mentioned, a second person I trust also suggested "masterpiece", so I'll opt for that one. Thanks again!

2 hrs confidence:

masterpiece

V N Ganesh
Local time: 18:16
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

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