虫歯

虫歯

Japanese

虫歯 (mushiba): a cavity, a decayed tooth.

Kanji in this term
虫	歯
むし Grade: 1	は > ば Grade: 3
kun’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 虫 (mushi, “worm, bug”) +‎ 歯 (ha, “tooth”).[1][2] The ha changes to ba as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) むしば [mùshíbá] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ᵝɕiba̠]

Noun

虫歯 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 蟲齒, hiragana むしば, rōmaji mushiba)

1. a bad tooth, dental caries, a cavity

Synonyms

• 虫齧歯 (むしかめば) (mushikameba)
• 虫食 (むしく)い (mushikui)
• 虫食 (むしく)い歯 (ば) (mushikuiba)
• 齲 (う)歯 (し) (ushi)
• 齲蝕 (うしょく) (ushoku)

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