日本狼

日本狼

Japanese

日本狼 (Nihon ōkami): a taxidermied specimen of a Japanese wolf.

Kanji in this term
日	本	狼
にち > に Grade: 1	ほん Grade: 1	おおかみ Jinmeiyō
Irregular	on’yomi	kun’yomi

Etymology

From 日本 (Nihon, “Japan”) +‎ 狼 (ōkami, “wolf”).[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にほんお​おかみ [nìhóń'óꜜòkàmì] (Nakadaka – [4])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ihõ̞ɰ̃o̞ːka̠mʲi]

Noun

日本狼 (hiragana にほんおおかみ, katakana ニホンオオカミ, rōmaji Nihon ōkami, historical hiragana にほんおほかみ)

1. a Japanese wolf, Canis lupus hodophilax

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts, as ニホンオオカミ.

Synonyms

• 山 (やま)犬 (いぬ) (yamainu, literally “mountain dog”; biologists consider this to be just a feral dog, but there has been some confusion in general usage)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN