烏
crow, raven
Readings
On'yomi
- ウ
- オ
Kun'yomi
- からす
- いずくんぞ
- なんぞ
Meaning
烏 centers on the crow or raven as a bird, often specifically the black-feathered corvid.
Most common words using 烏
20 of 124- 烏賊いかN1
cuttlefish; squid
- 烏からすN1
crow (Corvus spp.); raven
- 烏丸うがん
Wuhuan (proto-Mongolic nomadic people)
- 烏帽子えぼし
eboshi; black-lacquered headgear made of silk, cloth or paper, originally worn by court nobles in ancient Japan
- 蛍烏賊ほたるいか
firefly squid (Watasenia scintillans); sparkling enope squid
- 烏合うごう
disorderly gathering
- 烏兎うと
sun and moon
- 八咫烏やたがらす
Yatagarasu; raven who aided Emperor Jimmu on his eastern expedition
- 烏天狗からすてんぐ
small, crow-billed tengu
- 烏魯木斉ウルムチ
Ürümqi (China)
- 槍烏賊やりいか
spear squid (Loligo bleekeri)
- 烏口からすぐち
ruling pen
- 烏頭うず
dried aconite root (used in traditional Chinese medicine); monkshood
- 三羽烏さんばがらす
trio; triumvirate; three famous retainers
- 京烏きょうがらす
Kyoto merchant
- 亭主の好きな赤烏帽子ていしゅのすきなあかえぼし
even an eccentric head of family must be obeyed
- 今泣いた烏がもう笑ういまないたからすがもうわらう
a child's emotions change easily; the bird that cried now laughs
- 八咫の烏やたのからす
Yatagarasu; raven who aided Emperor Jimmu on his eastern expedition
- 初烏はつがらす
crow cawing on New Year's Day
- 剣先烏賊けんさきいか
swordtip squid (Photololigo edulis)
Study
Etymology
烏 is a pictograph of a crow or raven. The modern form preserves a stylized bird shape, with the missing inner stroke compared to 鳥 (bird) traditionally explained as representing the difficulty of seeing a crow's eye against its black feathers.
Meaning mnemonic
The shape is a bird without the eye stroke inside: a crow is so black you cannot see its eye. 烏 is a crow.
Reading mnemonic
For ウ, imagine a crow cawing 'oooh, oooh' in a spooky scene: oooh -> ウ, and the crow's call echoes.