雷神鳥

Japanese

Kanji in this term
雷	神	鳥
らい Grade: S	じん Grade: 3	ちょう Grade: 2
on’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 雷神 (raijin, “thunder god”) +‎ 鳥 (chō, “bird”), calque of English thunderbird. The first term of the compound is 雷神 (raijin, “thunder god”) rather than the expected 雷 (rai, “thunder”) because the term 雷鳥 (raichō) is already used to refer to the rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), a type of grouse native to Japan.

Pronunciation

On’yomi: Goon
- IPA^(key): [ɾa̠iʑĩɲ̟t͡ɕo̞ː]

Noun

雷神鳥 (hiragana らいじんちょう, rōmaji raijinchō)

(rare) a thunderbird (mythological bird)

Usage notes

The term サンダーバード (sandābādo) is more commonly used as a translation for the English term thunderbird.

Synonyms

サンダーバード (sandābādo)