Translation guide
The word 'egg' in English refers to both the food item and the biological cell. In Japanese, the most common word is 卵 (たまご), but there are specific terms for fish eggs, egg as an ingredient, and idiomatic expressions.
Referring to a chicken egg or similar bird egg used as food, either raw or cooked.
The general word for egg, especially chicken eggs. Used in cooking and everyday contexts.
朝ごはんに卵を食べました。
I ate an egg for breakfast.
卵を割ってください。
Please crack the egg.
Often used specifically for chicken eggs as food, especially in dishes like 玉子焼き (tamagoyaki). Interchangeable with 卵 in many food contexts.
玉子焼きが好きです。
I like tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette).
Referring to egg used in cooking, such as beaten egg, egg wash, or egg as a binding agent.
Used for egg as an ingredient in recipes.
卵を溶いてください。
Please beat the egg.
Specifically means 'beaten egg' used in cooking.
Referring to the eggs of fish or other seafood, often used in sushi.
General term for fish eggs or roe.
魚卵は寿司によく使われます。
Fish roe is often used in sushi.
Salmon roe, a common sushi topping.
Cod roe, often eaten as a side dish or in onigiri.
Flying fish roe, small and crunchy, used in sushi.
とびこはプチプチしています。
Flying fish roe is crunchy.
Referring to the female reproductive cell in animals or humans.
Biological term for ovum or egg cell.
卵子は女性の生殖細胞です。
The ovum is the female reproductive cell.
Can also refer to an ovum in general contexts, but 卵子 is more precise.
English idioms involving 'egg' and their Japanese equivalents.
Equivalent to 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg?'
卵が先か鶏が先かという議論は尽きない。
The debate over which came first, the chicken or the egg, is endless.
Equivalent to 'You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.'
改革には痛みが伴う。卵を割らなければオムレツは作れない。
Reform involves pain. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
Both are read たまご and mean egg. 卵 is the more general character and can refer to any egg, while 玉子 is often used specifically for chicken eggs as food, especially in compound words like 玉子焼き (tamagoyaki). In many contexts they are interchangeable.
When 卵 is read as らん, it often appears in compound words related to biology or reproduction, such as 排卵 (はいらん, ovulation) or 受精卵 (じゅせいらん, fertilized egg). Using たまご in these contexts would be incorrect.
溶き卵を加えます。
Add the beaten egg.
I'll have the salmon roe battleship roll, please.
I want to eat cod roe pasta.
Birds lay eggs.
Describes a cute round face, literally 'an egg with eyes and a nose'.
彼女は卵に目鼻のような顔をしている。
She has a cute, round face.