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獣 (けもの, kemono) Japanese meaning: beast | Kotomora
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きな
獣けもの
に
出で
会あ
っ
た
。
I encountered a large beast in the forest.
When he gets drunk, he becomes like a brute.
Usage patterns 獣けもの を 狩か る to hunt a beast
The hunter hunted a beast in the forest.
獣けもの に 襲おそ われる to be attacked by a beast
The traveler was attacked by a beast on the mountain path.
獣けもの のような 〈 物もの 〉 beast-like (eyes, growl, etc.)
He looked at me with beast-like eyes.
Related words 動物 is the general, neutral word for 'animal' covering both wild and domestic creatures, while 獣 stresses wildness or beast-like ferocity.
野獣 specifically emphasizes the savagery of a wild beast, whereas 獣 is the broader, more general term for a beast or animal.
獣 is the everyday native word for an animal or beast, whereas ビースト is a stylized katakana term favored in fiction and titles.
獣 is a more literary, neutral term for 'beast', whereas 畜生 implies contempt or moral condemnation.
Etymology The kanji 獣 is a phono-semantic compound. The reading けもの is from Old Japanese, likely a compound of 毛 (ke, 'hair/fur') + 物 (mono, 'thing'). けだもの is an emphatic variant with the insertion of だ. じゅう is the Sino-Japanese reading (on'yomi).
Usage 7%
ケダモノ Usage 2%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling for the けだもの reading, often used for emphatic or slang effect.
ケモノ Usage 2%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling used in informal, slang, or subcultural contexts, including furry fandom.
