火鼠

Chinese

 
fire; angry; fierce
fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving
rat; mouse
trad. (火鼠)
simp. #(火鼠)

Pronunciation


Noun

火鼠

  1. (Chinese mythology) fire rat or mouse (a mythological creature)
  2. (Taiwanese Hokkien) squirrel

Synonyms

Japanese

FWOTD – 20 April 2014

Etymology 1

火鼠 (hinezumi, kaso): woodblock print from the Wakan Sansai Zue (和漢三才図会)
Kanji in this term

Grade: 1
ねずみ
Hyōgaiji
kun’yomi

Compound of Old Japanese elements (hi, fire) + (nezumi, rat, mouse).[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • (Tokyo) ずみ [hìnéꜜzùmì] (Nakadaka – [2])[2]
  • IPA(key): [çine̞zɨᵝmʲi]

Noun

()(ねずみ) • (hinezumi) 

  1. a fire-rat: an imaginary creature of ancient China resembling a white rat, thought to live in the volcanoes of the South China Sea and to have fireproof fur
    • 10th century: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
      唐土にある、火鼠の裘を給へ
      もろこしにある、ひねずみのかわごろもをたまえ
      Morokoshi ni aru, hinezumi no kawagoromo o tamae
      Get me the fur robe of the fire-rat in China...
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term

Grade: 1

Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

/kwaso//kaso/

From Middle Chinese compound 火鼠 (MC xwaX syoX, literally “fire rat”). Date of borrowing unknown.

Pronunciation

Noun

()() • (kaso) くわそ (kwaso)?

  1. a fire-rat (see above)
Usage notes

The hinezumi reading is more common.

References

  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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