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Kotomora

鷽

long-tailed bird, dove, bullfinch

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Readings

On'yomi

  • カク
  • アク

Kun'yomi

  • うそ

Nanori

  • ざき

Meaning

鷽 centers on a specific kind of bird: a long-tailed bird, dove, or bullfinch. The meanings are all bird types, with no single abstract concept connecting them beyond being a bird.

Most common words using 鷽

  • 赤鷽あかうそ

    bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula rosacea)

  • 鷽うそ

    Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula); Japanese bullfinch

  • 鷽替うそかえ

    annual religious ceremony that occurs in Tenmangu where worshippers come to exchange their wooden bullfinch birds

Explore all words using 鷽 →

Study

Etymology

鷽 combines 鳥 (bird) with a phonetic component that includes 臼 and 爻, suggesting a bird whose name sounded similar to that phonetic. The exact historical development is uncertain.

Meaning mnemonic

The bottom is 鳥 (bird), and the top looks like a nest with twigs (臼 and 爻). Picture a long-tailed bird or dove sitting in a twiggy nest.

Reading mnemonic

For カク, imagine a bird with a long tail that makes a 'caw-caw' sound: caw-caw -> カク, and the bird is a bullfinch or dove.