狐
fox
Readings
On'yomi
- コ
Kun'yomi
- きつね
Meaning
狐 centers on the fox as an animal, often associated with cunning or supernatural traits in Japanese folklore.
Most common words using 狐
20 of 74- 狐きつねN1
fox (esp. the red fox, Vulpes vulpes)
- 妖狐ようこ
fox with supernatural powers; fox spirit
- 北狐きたきつね
Ezo red fox (Vulpes vulpes schrencki)
- 白狐しろぎつね
old, white fox (trad. said to have supernatural powers)
- 狐狸こり
foxes and tanuki
- 狐火きつねび
pale fiery light seen in fields and mountains at night; will-o'-the-wisp; ignis fatuus; elf-fire; fen-fire
- 狐の嫁入りきつねのよめいり
rain shower while the sun shines; sun shower
- ケープ狐ケープぎつね
Cape fox (Vulpes chama); cama fox; silver-backed fox
- ライネケ狐ライネケぎつね
Reynard the Fox (fable)
- 三狐神みけつかみ
a god of food
- 九尾の狐きゅうびのきつね
nine-tailed fox; old, golden-furred fox with nine tails and shapeshifting powers used to fool humans; orig. a Chinese mystical beast whose appearance was considered auspicious
- 人狐じんこ
werefox
- 人狐ひとぎつね
fox spirit that possesses people (typical of the Chūgoku region)
- 兎死すれば狐これを悲しむうさぎしすればきつねこれをかなしむ
people have sympathy for kindred in distress; when the rabbit dies, the fox grieves
- 冠狐猿かんむりきつねざる
crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus)
- 北極狐ほっきょくぎつね
Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus)
- 千金の裘は一狐の腋に非ずせんきんのきゅうはいっこのえきにあらず
to rule a country requires many great men; an expensive fur coat will not be made with a single fox
- 古狐ふるきつね
old fox; old-timer; schemer
- 同じ穴の狐おなじあなのきつね
(villains) of the same stripe; birds of a feather; foxes of the same hole
- 善狐ぜんこ
benevolent fox (in mythology)
Study
Etymology
狐 combines the beast radical 犭 with 瓜, which likely provides the sound. The character originally referred to the fox.
Meaning mnemonic
The beast radical 犭 hints at an animal, and the right side 瓜 looks like a melon. Imagine a fox sneaking into a melon patch to steal a melon.
Reading mnemonic
For コ, picture a fox curling up like a small 子 (こ, child) in the melon patch: 子 -> コ, and the fox is as clever as a child.