海馬

sea horse

So named as its shape is similar to horse's head. First used in the Tang dynasty-era 《本草拾遺》 (Supplements to the Compendium of Materia Medica).

海馬

1. sea horse (Classifier: 隻／只 m c; 尾 mn)
2. (obsolete) walrus
3. (obsolete) frog
4. short for 海馬體／海马体 (hǎimǎtǐ, “hippocampus”)

• (sea horse):

 海馬 (Seahorse) on Japanese Wikipedia

Compound of 海(うみ) (umi, “ocean, sea”) + 馬(うま) (uma, “horse”).

• (Tokyo) うみうま (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) うみうま (Nakadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

海(うみ)馬(うま) or 海馬(ウミウマ) • (umiuma) 

1. synonym of 竜の落とし子 (tatsu no otoshigo, “sea horse”) (fish)

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ウミウマ (umiuma).

• 大(オオ)海(ウミ)馬(ウマ) (ōumiuma)
• 黒(クロ)海(ウミ)馬(ウマ) (kurōmiuma)

 海馬 (Walrus) and 海馬 (Hippocampus) on Japanese Wikipedia

From Middle Chinese 海馬 (xoj^X mæ^X, literally “sea + horse”). Compare Mandarin 海馬 / 海马 (hǎimǎ), Cantonese 海馬 / 海马 (hoi2 maa5), Min Nan 海馬 / 海马 (hái-bé).

• (Tokyo) かいば (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

海(かい)馬(ば) or 海馬(カイバ) • (kaiba) 

1. (rare) synonym of 竜の落とし子 (tatsu no otoshigo, “sea horse”) (fish)
2. (rare) synonym of 海象 (seiuchi, “walrus”)
3. (anatomy) the hippocampus (a part of the brain)

   Synonym: 海馬体 (kaibatai)

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as カイバ (kaiba).

 海馬 (Steller sea lion) on Japanese Wikipedia

From Ainu トド (todo), トト (toto, “sea lion”). The kanji is jukujikun (熟字訓).

• (Tokyo) とど (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

海馬(とど) or 海馬(トド) • (todo) 

1. a Steller sea lion

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as トド (todo). The kanji spellings are rare. When written in kanji, the 胡獱 spelling may be more common, likely to avoid confusion with the alternate readings of the 海馬 spelling of umiuma and kaiba.

海馬 • (haema) (hangeul 해마)

1. hanja form^? of 해마 (“seahorse; walrus”)

海馬

1. chữ Hán form of hải mã (“seahorse; walrus”)