Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
鶏. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
鶏, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
鶏 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
鶏 you have here. The definition of the word
鶏 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
鶏, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Translingual
Han character
鶏 (Kangxi radical 196, 鳥+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 月人竹日火 (BOHAF), composition ⿰⿱爫夫鳥)
References
- Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1494, character 10
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 47074
- Dae Jaweon: page 2024, character 8
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 7, page 4641, character 14
- Unihan data for U+9D8F
Japanese
Kanji
鶏
(Jōyō kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 鷄)
- chicken
- bird
Readings
Compounds
Compounds
- 鶏冠 (keikan, “cockscomb”)
- 鶏肉 (keiniku, “chicken meat”)
- 烏骨鶏 (ukokkei): silky, silkie (breed of chicken)
- 軍鶏 (gunkei)
- 水鶏 (suikei, “rail; water rail”)
- 養鶏 (yōkei, “poultry farming, chicken raising”)
- 黄鶏 (kashiwa): a Japanese native species of chicken with dark reddish-brown feathers; the meat thereof; chicken (meat)
- 水鶏, 秧鶏 (kuina, “rail, water rail”)
- 軍鶏 (shamo, “gamecock”)
- 矮鶏 (chabo, “bantam”)
Etymology 1
Alternative spellings
|
鷄 (kyūjitai) 雞
|
⟨nipa tu to2ri⟩ → */nipatːəri/ → /nifatori/ → /niwatori/
Originally derived from the 枕詞 (makura kotoba, “pillow word”, an epithet as a poetic device) compound phrase 庭つ鳥 (niwa tsu tori), 庭 (niwa, “garden”) + つ (tsu, Old Japanese possessive particle) + 鳥 (tori, “bird”), used in Old Japanese poetry as an allusive introduction to kake, the older word for “chicken” (see below). The medial tsu disappeared over time, yielding modern Japanese niwatori.[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
鶏 or 鶏 • (niwatori) ←にはとり (nifatori)?
- a domesticated chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)
- Synonyms: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori), 鳥 (tori)
- Hypernym: 雉 (kiji)
Usage notes
- As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ニワトリ.
Proverbs
Etymology 2
Alternative spellings
|
鷄 (kyūjitai) 雞
|
⟨kake1⟩ → */kakʲe/ → /kake/
From Old Japanese, first attested in the Kojiki (712 CE).
Onomatopoeic of the sound made by a chicken.[1][2] Compare English cluck.
Pronunciation
Noun
鶏 • (kake)
- a chicken (domesticated fowl)
- Synonym: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori)
-
- 爾波都登理 迦祁波那久 [Man'yōgana]
- [...] 庭つ鳥 鶏は鳴く [...] [Modern spelling]
- ...niwa tsu tori, kake wa naku...
- the garden bird, the chicken clucks
Etymology 3
Alternative spelling
|
鷄 (kyūjitai)
|
First attested in The Tales of Ise.
Etymological details
This word has also been spelled as くだかけ (kudakake). This word must have been a compound of くた (kuta/kuda) + 鶏 (kake, “chicken; rooster”).
However, the initial kuta-/kuda- portion has been subject to debate. Several sources have attempted to give an etymology:[3]
- The Hikobae of 1847 and the Daigenkai derive kuta- as a word meaning 'stinky'.
- The Kita-no-bezuihitsu, Meigentsū, and the Minakata-Kumakusu derive this from 百済鶏 (kudara-kake, literally “Baekje chicken”), saying that the chicken was imported from there.
- The Wakun-no-Shiori derives kuta as an eastern word for "house". The same source also supposes a Sanskrit origin, transcribed as kukutaeshira, and also supposes it was derived from 管掛 (kuda-kake) from the way it has a good voice.
- The Honchō Jigen derives this from kudo-kake, where kudo- means 'a passing sound' and -kake means 'to put on'.
- The Myōgoki derives kuda- from 数連 (kazutsura), while -kake is an onomatopoeic sound.
The third etymology is the most likely, as this note appears in several manuscripts of The Tales of Ise, and Vovin (2021) identifies kuda- with Ainu コタン (kotan, “village”) (c.f. English village and villa). He also identifies the poem in The Tales of Ise as being a hybrid Japanese-Ainu poem.[4]
Pronunciation
Noun
鶏 • (kutakake)
- (archaic) a chicken (domesticated fowl)
- Synonym: 臼辺鳥 (usubedori)
Usage notes
- Occasionally seen with the reading くだかけ (kudakake).[3][2]
Etymology 4
Alternative spellings
|
鷄 (kyūjitai) 雞
|
From 鳥 (tori, “bird”).
Pronunciation
Noun
鶏 • (tori)
- Alternative spelling of 鳥 (tori): a chicken (domesticated fowl); chicken meat
Derived terms
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 “くた‐かけ 【鶏】”, in 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
- ^ Vovin, Alexander (2021) “Ainu elements in early Japonic”, in Handbook of the Ainu Language, →DOI