うみほたる

Japanese

Alternative spellings
海蛍 海ほたる

Etymology

From 海(うみ) (umi, “sea”) + 蛍(ほたる) (hotaru, “firefly”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) うみほ​たる [ùmíhóꜜtàrù] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝmʲiho̞ta̠ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

うみほたる or ウミホタル • (umihotaru) ^{←うみほたる (umifotaru)?}

1. sea-firefly, Vargula hilgendorfii, a small bioluminescent ostracod found in Japan

Usage notes

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).

Descendants

• → English: sea-firefly (calque)