稲妻

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 forms

• 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

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) いなずま [ìnázúmá] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [ina̠zɨᵝma̠]

Noun

稲妻 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 稻妻, hiragana いなずま, rōmaji inazuma, historical hiragana いなづま)

1. lightning, a lightning bolt

Synonyms

• 落雷 (らくらい) (rakurai)
• 雷 (かみなり) (kaminari)
• 雷電 (らいでん) (raiden)

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