むら

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
群 叢 (uncommon) 簇 (rare)

Analyzed by some references as an alternative form or older form of 群れ (mure, “a group, a gathering”), itself traceable to classical verb 群(む)る (muru, “to gather, to group together”), modern form 群れる (mureru).

First cited in the Kojiki of 712.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝɾa̠]

Noun

むら • (mura) 

1. 群, 叢, 簇: gathering, grouping

Affix

むら • (mura) 

1. 群, 叢, 簇: gathering, grouping

Usage notes

Often found as a compounding element, as either prefix as in Old Japanese 群山 (murayama, “mountain range, group of mountains”) or suffix as in Old Japanese 家群 (ipemura, “group of houses, settlement, village”).

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
村 𨛗 (rare)

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *mura.

Either formed from the nominalization of 群れる (mureru, “to gather”), or from Old Korean. In Old Korean toponyms, this appears with the phonetic spelling 牟羅 (*mura). Compare Korean 무리 (muri, “group, crowd”), also possibly cognate with 群れる (mureru, “to gather”).

Noun

むら • (mura) 

1. 村, 𨛗: village (a rural habitation of size between a hamlet and a town)
   • 2015 September 19, “竜(りゅう)角(かく)の狩(しゅ)猟(りょう)者(しゃ) [Dragon Horn Hunter]”, in EXTRA PACK 2015, Konami:

     疫(えき)病(びょう)に苦(くる)しむ故(こ)郷(きょう)の村(むら)を救(すく)うため、霊(れい)薬(やく)の原(げん)料(りょう)となるドラゴンの角(つの)を乱(らん)獲(かく)する女(おんな)戦(せん)士(し)。その村(むら)はすでに、棲(す)み処(か)を追(お)われたドラゴンたちによって踏(ふ)み荒(あ)らされ、焼(や)き尽(つ)くされてしまった事(こと)を、彼(かの)女(じょ)はまだ知(し)らない・・・。

     Ekibyō ni kurushimu kokyō no mura o sukū tame, reiyaku no genryō to naru doragon no tsuno o rankakusuru onnasenshi. Sono mura wa sude ni, sumika o owareta doragon-tachi ni yotte fumiarasare, yakitsukusarete shimatta koto o, kanojo wa mada shiranai .

     A female warrior who was on the hunt for dragon horns, to make a medicine for her home village, which was suffering from a plague. Unbeknownst to her, those displaced dragons went on to lay waste and burn down her village….

Synonyms

• (village; historical, Korea): 村(スキ) (suki)

See also

• 里(さと) (sato)
• Appendix:Gikun Usage in Meiji Version of Japanese Bible/群

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling
斑

Ultimate derivation unknown. Perhaps sound-symbolic.

First cited to a text from 1275.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) むら [mùrá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝɾa̠]

Noun

むら or ムラ • (mura) 

1. 斑: a design like marble or spots
2. (by extension) having variation or fluctuation

   むらがある

   mura ga aru

   uneven, variable

   むらがない

   mura ga nai

   even, uniform

   回(かい)転(てん)むら

   kaiten mura

   unsteady rotation