head louse; head lice
Refers to the parasitic insect Pediculus humanus capitis, commonly found in human hair. The term is used both in medical and everyday contexts.
Head lice were found in the child's hair.
Use a special shampoo to get rid of head lice.
Katakana spelling is common in biological and everyday contexts; usually written in kana.
Mixed kanji-kana spelling; less common than the katakana form but still encountered.
Full kanji spelling using the non-jōyō character 虱; rarely used in modern writing.
Compound of 頭 (atama, 'head') and 虱 (shirami, 'louse'), with rendaku voicing of shirami to jirami. The katakana spelling is standard in modern usage.