Chinese

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river suckling pig
trad. (河豚)
simp. #(河豚)
alternative forms 河魨河鲀 pufferfish
 
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Pronunciation

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Noun

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河豚

  1. blowfish; puffer
  2. river dolphin

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Japanese

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河豚 (fugu, katon): a blowfish in a tank.

Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
Grade: 5 Grade: S
jukujikun

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).

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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河豚(ふぐ) or 河豚(フグ) (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)
Usage notes
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  • The kanji spelling is uncommonly used. Usually spelled in kana.
  • As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as フグ.
Synonyms
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Descendants
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  • English: fugu

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term

Grade: 5
とん
Grade: S
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 河豚 (MC ha dwon, literally “river + pig”). Compare modern Mandarin reading hétún.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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()(とん) or 河豚(カトン) (katon

  1. blowfish
Usage notes
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This reading is less common than fugu above.

References

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  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  4. ^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN