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カニダマシ (かにだまし) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

カニダマシ

Meanings

1

noun

porcelain crab

usually written using kana alone

A decapod crustacean of the family Porcellanidae. Not a true crab, but resembles one. The Japanese name literally means 'crab deceiver'.

磯いそでカニダマシを見みつけた。
I found a porcelain crab on the rocky shore.

Written forms

カニダマシ
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common for this animal name; usually written in kana.
蟹かに瞞だまし
Kanji form; rarely used. The kanji 瞞 means 'deception', reflecting the creature's mimicry.
蟹かに瞞だまし
Kanji form with okurigana; rarely used.

Kanji

蟹crab
瞞

deception

Etymology

Compound of 蟹 (kani, 'crab') + 騙し (damashi, 'deceiving'), from the verb 騙す (damasu). The name reflects the fact that porcelain crabs resemble true crabs but belong to a different group.