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Definition 2024

河豚

河豚

Chinese

river suckling pig
simp. and trad.
(河豚) 		河 豚

Noun

河豚

  1. blowfish; puffer

Hyponyms

  • (Min Nan) 刺䲅

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”).

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

河豚 ‎(hiragana ふぐ, katakana フグ, romaji 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 term 河豚 ‎(/ɣa dwonX, literally “river + pig”). Compare modern Mandarin reading hétún.

Pronunciation

Noun

河豚 ‎(hiragana かとん, romaji 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. 1 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

Pronunciation

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