盗難（とうなん、tounan）
- theft

The Japanese word 盗難 盗難 (tou-nan) refers to "theft," "robbery," or "larceny." It specifically describes the act of something being stolen. It implies that something of value has been taken away without permission, typically involving a degree of stealth or deception. The term encompasses a broad range of theft scenarios, from petty theft to grand larceny.

⚫︎自転車の盗難 Translation: Bicycle theft ⚫︎家からの現金盗難 Translation: Cash theft from a house ⚫︎パスポートの盗難に遭う Translation: To be a victim of passport theft

This word is used in formal and informal contexts. It's common in news reports, police reports, and everyday conversations when discussing incidents of theft. You can use it when reporting a theft, describing a crime, or talking about the loss of personal belongings due to theft. The word can be used as a noun or can be used as part of a verb phrase like 盗難に遭う(to be a victim of theft).

盗難 is typically written in kanji and hiragana. ・Kanji: 盗難 ・Hiragana: とうなん There are no variations in the okurigana for this word.

⚫︎窃盗(setto): theft, larceny (more formal and legal term) ⚫︎万引き(manbiki): shoplifting ⚫︎強盗(goutou): robbery (involving violence or threat of violence)

⚫︎所有(shoyu): ownership ⚫︎保護(hogo): protection ⚫︎発見(hakken): discovery

旅行中に、ホテルの部屋で貴重品が盗難に遭いました。 ・Translation: During the trip, my valuables were stolen from my hotel room. ・Explanation: This sentence describes an instance of theft that happened while traveling.

この地域では、最近、自動車盗難が増加しています。 ・Translation: Recently, car thefts have been increasing in this area. ・Explanation: This sentence reports the increase of car thefts in a specific area.

The word 盗難 is a compound word. 盗 (tou) means "theft" or "to steal," and 難 (nan) can mean "difficulty" or, in this context, "disaster," "trouble," or "misfortune." Therefore, 盗難 literally means something like "the trouble or misfortune of theft."