稲妻

Japanese
稲妻 (inazuma): lightning, especially cloud-to-ground lightning.
Kanji in this term
稲 妻
いな
Grade: S		 つま > ずま
Grade: 5
kun’yomi
Alternative spellings
稻妻 (kyūjitai)
電 (rare)

Etymology

Compound of 稲 (ina, “rice plant”, ancient bound-form reading of modern ine) +‎ 妻 (tsuma, “wife, spouse”) or 夫 (tsuma, “husband, spouse”).[1][2][3] The tsuma changes to zuma as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

A belief in ancient times was that rice plants would mate with or otherwise be fertilized by lightning,[1][2][3] a frequent occurrence in the late summer and autumn when rice plants come to fruition.[3]

Pronunciation

Noun

稲(いな)妻(ずま) or 稲妻(いなづま) • (inazuma) ←いなづま (inaduma)?

  1. lightning, a lightning bolt

Synonyms

References
  1. “稲妻・電”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. “稲妻”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
  4. 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), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN
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