沼
marsh, lake, bog, swamp, pond
Readings
On'yomi
- ショウ
Kun'yomi
- ぬま
Meaning
沼 centers on a body of still, shallow water with soft, muddy ground: a marsh, swamp, bog, or pond. The lake sense is a larger, more open version of the same wetland idea.
Most common words using 沼
20 of 36- 沼ぬまN1
marsh; swamp; wetland; bog; pond
- 泥沼どろぬま
bog; marsh; swamp; quagmire; morass
- 池沼ちしょう
ponds and swamps
- 沼田ぬまた
deep-mud paddy
- 沼地ぬまち
marshland; wetland; swampland
- 湖沼こしょう
lake; marsh; wetland; inland waters
- 沼沢しょうたく
marsh; swamp; bog
- アメリカ沼鹿アメリカぬまじか
marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus)
- 大和沼蝦やまとぬまえび
Yamato shrimp (Caridina multidentata); Amano shrimp
- 沼るぬまる
to get hooked (on a video game, TV show, etc.); to become addicted (to); to become obsessed (with)
- 沼エビぬまえび
Paratya compressa (species of freshwater shrimp)
- 沼大根ぬまだいこん
Adenostemma lavenia (species of flowering plant)
- 沼杉ぬますぎ
bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum)
- 沼気しょうき
marsh gas; methane
- 沼沢地しょうたくち
wetland; marshland
- 沼沢植物しょうたくしょくぶつ
helophyte; marsh plant
- 沼河姫命ぬなかわひめのみこと
Nunakawahime no Mikoto
- 沼湖しょうこ
marshes and lakes
- 沼縄ぬなわ
water shield (Brasenia schreberi)
- 沼萩ぬまはぎ
Lysimachia fortunei (species of loosestrife)
Study
Etymology
沼 combines 氵 (water) with 召, which likely contributes the sound and may relate to calling or gathering, suggesting a place where water collects.
Meaning mnemonic
Water 氵 gathers at a place that calls 召 it: a marsh or pond where water collects and sits still.
Reading mnemonic
For ショウ, imagine a show of water lilies floating on a still marsh: show -> ショウ, and the pond becomes a stage.