蝙
bat
Readings
On'yomi
- ヘン
Kun'yomi
- こうもり
Meaning
蝙 centers on the animal bat, specifically the small flying mammal. It is rarely used alone and typically appears in the compound 蝙蝠 (こうもり).
Most common words using 蝙
20 of 39- 蝙蝠こうもり
bat (Chiroptera spp.)
- かぐや蝙蝠かぐやこうもり
fraternal myotis (Myotis frater); long-tailed whiskered bat
- インド大蝙蝠インドおおこうもり
Indian flying fox (Pteropus giganteus); greater Indian fruit bat
- キティ豚鼻蝙蝠キティぶたばなこうもり
Kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai); bumblebee bat; Old World hog-nosed bat
- 信濃頬髭蝙蝠しなのほおひげこうもり
Shinano whiskered bat (Myotis ikonnikovi hosonoi); Hosono's myotis
- 兎蝙蝠うさぎこうもり
brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus); common long-eared bat; brown big-eared bat
- 大東大蝙蝠だいとうおおこうもり
Daito flying fox (Pteropus dasymallus daitoensis)
- 大蝙蝠おおこうもり
fruit bat (Pteropodidae spp.); flying fox; megabat
- 天狗フルーツ蝙蝠てんぐフルーツこうもり
tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimeninae spp., esp. the common tube-nosed fruit bat, Nyctimene albiventer)
- 天狗蝙蝠てんぐこうもり
Hilgendorf's tube-nosed bat (Murina hilgendorfi)
- 家蝙蝠いえこうもり
Japanese house bat (Pipistrellus abramus)
- 小天狗蝙蝠こてんぐこうもり
Ussuri tube-nosed bat (Murina ussuriensis)
- 小山蝙蝠こやまこうもり
Japanese noctule (Nyctalus furvus)
- 小笠原大蝙蝠おがさわらおおこうもり
Bonin flying fox (Pteropus pselaphon); Bonin fruit bat
- 小笠和大蝙蝠おがさわおおこうもり
Bonin flying fox (Pteropus pselaphon)
- 小菊頭蝙蝠こきくがしらこうもり
little Japanese horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus cornutus); Japanese lesser horseshoe bat
- 山蝙蝠やまこうもり
birdlike noctule (Nyctalus aviator)
- 東洋雛蝙蝠とうようひなこうもり
Asian particolored bat (Vespertilio sinensis)
- 永良部大蝙蝠えらぶおおこうもり
northern Ryukyu fruit bat (Pteropus dasymallus dasymallus)
- 沖縄大蝙蝠おきなわおおこうもり
Okinawa flying fox (Pteropus loochoensis)
Study
Etymology
蝙 combines 虫 (insect/creature) with 扁, which likely contributes the sound ヘン. The character classifies the bat as a small winged creature.
Meaning mnemonic
The insect radical 虫 on the left suggests a small creature, and the right side 扁 looks like a flat, spread-out shape. Picture a bat with its wings spread flat like the 扁 shape, a creature that looks like a flying insect.
Reading mnemonic
For ヘン, imagine a hen chasing a bat out of the barn: hen -> ヘン, and the bat flutters away.