河豚

Chinese
river suckling pig
simp. and trad.
(河豚)		 河 豚
variant forms 河魨／河鲀

Pronunciation

Noun

河豚

  1. blowfish; puffer
  2. river dolphin

Synonyms

Hyponyms
  • (Min Nan) 刺䲅

Derived terms
  • 河豚毒素

Japanese
河豚 (fugu, katon): a blowfish in a tank.

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
河 豚
Grade: 5 Grade: S
Irregular

In light of the older pronunciation fuku,[1] most likely derived from the verb 吹く (fuku, “to blow”), perhaps from the way the fish blow sand to find food. Alternatively, related to the verb 膨れる (fukureru, “to swell up, to expand”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

河豚 (hiragana ふぐ, katakana フグ, rōmaji fugu)

  1. a blowfish
  2. (slang) a fat and unattractive woman
  3. (slang) someone who is quick to anger and who puffs up
  4. (slang) a gun (from the way that getting hit may kill)
Synonyms
Descendants

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
河 豚
か
Grade: 5		 とん
Grade: S
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 河豚 (MC ɦɑ duən, literally “river + pig”). Compare modern Mandarin reading hétún.

Pronunciation

Noun

河豚 (hiragana かとん, rōmaji katon)

  1. blowfish
Usage notes

This reading is less common than fugu above.

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13143-0
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