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骸骨 (がいこつ, gaikotsu) Japanese meaning: skeleton | Kotomora
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I saw a dinosaur skeleton at the museum.
There was a cat as thin as a skeleton by the roadside.
Usage patterns 骸がい 骨こつ が 見み つかる for a skeleton to be found/discovered
An old skeleton was found in the mountains.
骸がい 骨こつ のように 痩や せる to become skeletally thin
He became as thin as a skeleton because of his illness.
骸がい 骨こつ を 発はっ 掘くつ する to excavate/dig up a skeleton
The archaeologist excavated an ancient skeleton.
Related words 骨格 refers to the skeletal structure or framework of a body in an anatomical or structural sense, while 骸骨 denotes the whole skeleton viewed as a visible object, often a bare bony corpse.
骸骨 is the common word for a skeleton, often used for anatomical models or Halloween decorations, while 白骨 stresses that the bones have been bleached white through exposure, as at a death scene.
Don't confuse with· 5 骨 means a bone or bones in general (one bone, a broken bone), whereas 骸骨 specifically means an entire skeleton, the full bony frame of a body.
亡骸 refers to a whole dead body (often still fleshed), while 骸骨 specifically means a skeleton with the flesh gone.
骸骨 usually refers to a whole skeleton (often as an image, e.g. of death), while 人骨 refers to human bone(s) in general, including single fragments.
Show 2 more Written forms 骸がい 骨こつ Usage 81%
ガイコツ Usage 13%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling, often used for emphasis or in informal contexts.
がい 骨こつ Usage 5%
search-only kanji form
Search-only form; not a standard spelling.
がいこつ Usage
Etymology Compound of 骸 (remains, corpse) and 骨 (bone). The reading がいこつ is the on'yomi of both characters.
死し 骸がい
死骸 refers to a whole dead body, while 骸骨 refers specifically to a skeleton with the flesh gone.
骸骨 means a skeleton (bones of a body), a very different, literal meaning from 骨子's abstract sense of the gist or framework of an idea, despite sharing the kanji 骨.
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