招き猫

Japanese

招き猫 (maneki neko): a beckoning cat with a motorized waving paw.

招き猫 (maneki neko): a beckoning cat figurine from the 1700s.

Kanji in this term
招	猫
まね Grade: 5	ねこ Grade: S
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
招猫

Etymology

Compound of 招き (maneki, “beckoning, inviting”, continuative or stem of verb 招く (maneku, “to beckon, to invite”)) +‎ 猫 (neko, “cat”).

First cited to 1893, although physical examples are found earlier in the Edo period.

In Japanese culture, holding one's hand with the palm downwards and waving vertically is a gesture used to beckon someone. This is somewhat similar to an upside-down version of the beckoning gesture used in US culture. The way that cats will sometimes wave a front paw in the air is also similar to this Japanese beckoning gesture, giving rise to the iconic image of the maneki neko. This image is often used to beckon customers into a shop.

See the Wikipedia articles for more detail.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) まねきね​こ [mànékí néꜜkò] (Nakadaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [ma̠ne̞kʲi ne̞ko̞]

Noun

招(まね)き猫(ねこ) • (maneki neko) 

1. [from at least 1893] maneki-neko, beckoning cat (figure of a cat with one paw raised believed to bring good luck)

Descendants

• Chinese: 招財貓／招财猫 (zhāocáimāo)