1.
basement floor; underground level
a floor of a building that is below ground level
食品売り場は地階にあります。
The food section is on the basement floor.
エレベーターで地階まで降りてください。
Please take the elevator down to the basement floor.
このデパートの地階には有名な洋菓子店が何軒も入っている。
The basement floor of this department store has several well-known Western confectionery shops.
Composed of 地 (ground/earth) and 階 (floor/story). Refers to any underground floor of a building. In Japanese department stores, the 地階 (often abbreviated as B1) is typically where the food hall (食品売り場 or デパ地下) is located.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 地階売り場: basement sales floor
- 地階の駐車場: basement parking
- 地階に降りる: to go down to the basement
- 地階一階: basement level 1 (B1)
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 地下: underground, basement — more general term, also used as a prefix (e.g., 地下鉄)
- 地下室: basement room — a specific room underground, not a building floor
- 階下: downstairs — relative term meaning the floor below, not necessarily underground