Is おふくろ related to ふく?


Since おふくろ is one way to address one's own mother, I was wondering whether the
「ふく」 part is related to the word meaning 'clothes' or not.

And if not, what is the origin of おふくろ?




My answer is (basically) the same as kiss-o-matic.

I would have never thought about why we call our mothers おふくろ if you didn't
ask us.

I am going to translate (<http://gogen-allguide.com/o/ofukuro.html>) ( I can
not copy the original Japanese due to the copyright ):

> The word has been seen since Muromachi era, and there are several theories
> about the origin of the name that have not been confirmed. One theory is お
> is a prefix, and since mothers managed placing all the money and valuables
> into bags (ふくろ), thus they came to be called お/ふくろ.
>
> Another theory is that because organs such as the placentae, womb, and egg
> membrane were called ふくろ, the name of organ also became used for mothers.
>
> Last one holds because children were brought up by mothers, the name ふところ
> denoting "the nest, pockets, etc" contracted to be おふくろ.
>
> In modern times, the word おふくろ is mostly used by males. however according to
> the Japanese-Portuguese dictionary published in 1603, it was females rather
> than males using the term back then.




My answer is (basically) the same as kiss-o-matic.

I would have never thought about why we call our mothers おふくろ if you didn't
ask us.

I am going to translate (<http://gogen-allguide.com/o/ofukuro.html>) ( I can
not copy the original Japanese due to the copyright ):

> The word has been seen since Muromachi era, and there are several theories
> about the origin of the name that have not been confirmed. One theory is お
> is a prefix, and since mothers managed placing all the money and valuables
> into bags (ふくろ), thus they came to be called お/ふくろ.
>
> Another theory is that because organs such as the placentae, womb, and egg
> membrane were called ふくろ, the name of organ also became used for mothers.
>
> Last one holds because children were brought up by mothers, the name ふところ
> denoting "the nest, pockets, etc" contracted to be おふくろ.
>
> In modern times, the word おふくろ is mostly used by males. however according to
> the Japanese-Portuguese dictionary published in 1603, it was females rather
> than males using the term back then.

