komainu

English

komainu statue in Ehime prefecture, Japan

Etymology

From Japanese 狛犬 (komainu, “lion-dog”).

Noun

komainu (plural komainu or komainus)

1. Carved stone statues of stylized lions that guard the entrance to some Japanese temples or shrines.

   Synonym: foo dog

   • 1909, Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, page 60:

     The Buddhist priest Ryōtei declares that the komainu are lions, which came from Koma and were called dogs by Japanese because they did not know lions.

   • 2015, Stan Sakai, The Usagi Yojimbo Saga. Volume 4‎^[1], page 577:

     The komainu can be traced to India and that culture’s stylized representations of the lion.

Anagrams

• kaonium

Japanese

Romanization

komainu

1. Rōmaji transcription of こまいぬ