篠
bamboo grass
Readings
On'yomi
- ゾウ
- ショウ
Kun'yomi
- しの
- ささ
- すず
Nanori
- の
Meaning
篠 centers on a type of slender bamboo or bamboo-like grass, often used for making small items like arrows or screens.
Most common words using 篠
- 篠原しのはら
field of bamboo grass
- 篠しの
thin-culmed dwarf bamboo (growing in clusters)
- 篠笛しのぶえ
Japanese transverse bamboo flute (high-pitched; usu. with seven holes)
- アメリカ篠懸の木アメリカすずかけのき
American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- 篠を突くしのをつく
to pour (of rain); to pound down
- 篠懸衣すずかけごろも
hemp over-garment worn by Shugendō practitioners
- 篠突くしのつく
to pelt down (of rain); to pour
- 篠突く雨しのつくあめ
pelting rain; pouring rain; driving rain; downpour
- 篠竹しのだけ
bamboo grass; bamboo
- 篠竹すずたけ
Sasamorpha borealis (species of bamboo grass unique to Japan)
- 篠笹しのざさ
bamboo grass; bamboo
- 長篠の戦いながしののたたかい
Battle of Nagashino (1575)
Study
Etymology
篠 combines 竹 (bamboo) with 條 (branch), suggesting a slender bamboo branch or a type of small bamboo. The exact historical development is uncertain.
Meaning mnemonic
The bamboo top 竹 sits above 條, which looks like a long, thin branch. Picture a thin bamboo stalk with slender branches—this is bamboo grass.
Reading mnemonic
For ゾウ, imagine a small bamboo grove growing inside a zoo enclosure: zoo -> ゾウ, and the bamboo grass sways gently.