毛虫

See also: 毛蟲

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 毛虫 – see 毛蟲 (“caterpillar”). (This term is the simplified form of 毛蟲).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
毛	虫
け Grade: 2	むし Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
毛蟲 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

毛 (ke, “hair”) +‎ 虫 (mushi, “worm”)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) けむし [kèmúshí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) けむし​ [kèmúshíꜜ] (Odaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ke̞mɯ̟ᵝɕi]

Noun

毛(け)虫(むし) or 毛虫(ケムシ) • (kemushi) 

1. a hairy caterpillar

   Synonym: (Tsugaru) げんだが (gendaga)

   • 1921, 寺田寅彦, 蜂が団子をこしらえる話:

     その代(かわ)り今年(ことし)はこれと変(かわ)った毛虫(けむし)が非常(ひじょう)に沢山(たくさん)に現(あら)われて来(き)た。

     Sono kawari kotoshi wa kore to kawatta kemushi ga hijō ni takusan ni arawarete kita.

     Instead we have seen the appearance of extremely many caterpillars different from this.

See also

• 芋(イモ)虫(ムシ) (imomushi)