熊手

熊手

Japanese

Kanji in this term
熊	手
くま Grade: 4	て > で Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
𨦈

熊手 (kumade): a metal gardening rake.

熊手 (kumade): elaborately stylized and decorated rakes on sale for use as good luck charms for business.

Etymology

Compound of 熊 (kuma, “bear”) +‎ 手 (te, “hand”).[1][2][3][4][5]The te changes to de as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Appears in texts since 1185.[1]

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
• (Tokyo) くまで [kùmádé] (Heiban – [0])[4][6][5]
• (Tokyo) くまで​ [kùmádéꜜ] (Odaka – [3])[4][6][5]
• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝma̠de̞]

Noun

熊(くま)手(で) • (kumade) 

1. a rake (garden tool), made of various materials; stylized and decorated bamboo rakes are also used as good luck charms for businesses (from the sense of gathering good fortune towards the user)

   Synonym: (more general term) レーキ (rēki)

2. (historical) a weapon similar in shape to a gardening rake, used to catch and unseat an opponent on horseback
3. (by analogy from the sense of a tool used to gather something toward the user) an extremely greedy person

   Synonym: 欲張り (yokubari)

See also

• 馬鍬(まぐわ) (maguwa): a kind of heavy-duty soil rake (smaller hand-held variety); a harrow (larger version pulled by livestock or a tractor)

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
3. “熊手”, in 世界大百科事典 第２版 (Sekai Dai-hyakka Jiten Dainihan, “Heibonsha World Encyclopedia Second Edition”)‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Heibonsha, 1998
4. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
5. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
6. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN