カッコウ

か

っ

こ

う

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

common cuckoo

usually written using kana alone

Refers to the bird species Cuculus canorus. In Japanese, the name is also used for the family Cuculidae in general, but this word specifically denotes the common cuckoo.

春はるになると、カッコウの鳴なき声ごえが聞きこえる。
In spring, you can hear the call of the common cuckoo.

Written forms

カッコウ
kana-only spelling
Standard katakana spelling for the bird name; usually written in kana.
郭かっ公こうUsage52%
Kanji form; rarely used in modern Japanese for the bird. No priority for this form is specified.
カッコーUsage35%
- カッコー
  irregular kana usagekana-only spelling
- かっこう
  Irregular kana variant reflecting a long-vowel pronunciation; encountered in casual writing.
かっこうUsage13%
Hiragana spelling, also common.

Kanji

郭enclosure, quarters, fortification
公public, prince, official

Etymology

The Japanese name カッコウ is onomatopoeic, derived from the bird's characteristic call. The kanji 郭公 are ateji (phonetic equivalents) borrowed from Chinese, where they also represent the cuckoo.