1.
boxing, pugilism, fistfighting
The sport of boxing, where two opponents fight using their fists. A somewhat literary or old-fashioned Japanese word for boxing, now largely replaced by the loanword ボクシング in everyday use.
拳闘の試合を観に行く。
I'm going to watch a boxing match.
彼は若い頃拳闘の選手だった。
He was a boxer when he was young.
戦前の日本では、拳闘という言葉がボクシングの正式な呼び名だった。
In prewar Japan, the word kentou was the official term for boxing.
Literally "fist fighting" (拳 = fist + 闘 = fight). This is the traditional Japanese word for boxing, but it has largely been replaced by ボクシング in modern usage. It still appears in literary writing, historical contexts, and the names of some boxing organizations and gymnasiums.
Note: This is a homophone of several common words: 検討 (consideration), 健闘 (good fight), and 見当 (estimate, guess).
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 拳闘の試合: boxing match
- 拳闘選手: boxer
- 拳闘ジム: boxing gym
- 拳闘部: boxing club
SIMILAR WORDS:
- ボクシング: boxing — the standard modern loanword
- 格闘技: combat sports, martial arts — broader term covering all fighting sports
- 闘拳: a less common alternative form with reversed character order