Kanji 象 elephant, pattern after, imitate Related words ゾウムシ ゾウムシ refers to weevils in general (family Curculionidae), while マメゾウムシ specifically denotes bean weevils (subfamily Bruchinae), which are leaf beetles, not true weevils.
Written forms まめぞうむし
Hiragana spelling is also used, especially in informal contexts.
豆まめ 象ぞう 虫むし
Kanji spelling is rare and may not be widely recognized; it but marks the word is listed as usually written in kana.
Etymology Compound of 豆 (まめ , 'bean') and 象虫 (ぞうむし , 'weevil'), literally 'bean weevil'. The kanji 象虫 is an older term for weevils, but the word is now usually written in kana.
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