螺

螺 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+11, 17 strokes, cangjie input 中戈田女火 (LIWVF), four-corner 5619₃, composition ⿰虫⿱田糸)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1095, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33512
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2885, character 5
• Unihan data for U+87BA

• Unihan data for U+F911

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *roːl) : semantic 虫 + phonetic 累 (OC *ruːls, *rolʔ, *rols).

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kroj (“shellfish, shell”). From the same root derives 蝸 (OC *kroːl, *kʷroːl, “terrestrial snail”).

螺

1. aquatic snail (as opposed to a terrestrial snail, 蝸／蜗 (wō))
2. whorl; swirl; spiral
3. fingerprint whorls
4. (organic chemistry) spiro-

   螺內酯／螺内酯  ―  luónèizhǐ  ―  spironolactone

5. (transgender slang) Short for 螺內酯／螺内酯 (luónèizhǐ, “spironolactone”); spiro
6. (historical) wine cup made from a snail shell
7. (historical) ink; pigment (green-black in color, produced from the snail, and used by women for drawing eyebrows)
8. Short for 螺髻 (“hair done up in a coil shape”).

• (spiro): 補／补 (bǔ, “E”), 色 (sè, “cypro”)

• “螺”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “Entry #12384”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. spiral-shaped shellfish

• Go-on: ら (ra)
• Kan-on: ら (ra)
• Kun: つぶ (tsubu, 螺)、つび (tsubi, 螺)、つみ (tsumi, 螺)、にし (nishi, 螺)、にな (nina, 螺)

From Middle Chinese 螺 (lwa, “conch; spiral”).

• (Tokyo) ら (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

螺(ら) • (ra) 

1. any shellfish with a spiral shell

In compounds, may lend meanings of either shell or spiral.

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 粒 (tsubu, “grain; granule, little roundish bit of something”).^[2] May have originally been the standalone form; compare 神 (kamu, bound form, only used in compounds) and 神 (kami, standalone form).

• IPA^(key):

螺(つび) • (tsubi) 

1. (obsolete) spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones
2. (obsolete) Synonym of 蛤 (hamaguri, “clam”)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

螺

Wikipedia ^ja

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Whelk

Wikipedia

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 粒 (tsubu, “grain; granule, little roundish bit of something”).^[2] May have originally been the combining form; compare 神 (kamu, bound form, only used in compounds) and 神 (kami, standalone form).

• (Tokyo) つぶ (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

螺(つぶ) • (tsubu) 

1. spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones
2. edible marine whelks of family Buccinidae
3. Synonym of 田螺 (tanishi, “river snails of family Viviparidae”)

/t͡subi/ → /t͡sumi/

Shift in pronunciation from tsubi above.

• IPA^(key):

螺(つみ) • (tsumi) 

1. (obsolete) spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones

From Old Japanese. Previously referred to any shellfish with a spiral shell (see ra above). Now refers more specifically to certain spiral shellfish. More common in compounds.

• (Tokyo) にし (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

螺(にし) • (nishi) 

1. (rare) certain shellfish with a spiral shell

• 蜷(にな) (nina), 河貝子(にな) (nina)

螺(にな) • (nina) 

1. Alternative spelling of 蜷 (nina, “Synonym of 川蜷 (kawanina, “melanian snail, Semisulcospira libertina”)”)

From Middle Chinese 螺 (MC lwa). Recorded as Middle Korean 라 (la) (Yale: la) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

螺

Wikisource

螺 (eumhun 소라 라 (sora ra), word-initial (South Korea) 소라 나 (sora na))

1. hanja form^? of 라/나 (“aquatic snail”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

螺: Hán Nôm readings: loa, loe

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.