つちぐも

noun

Atypus karschi (a type of trapdoor spider)

Only when written 土蜘蛛

A mygalomorph spider native to East Asia. In Japanese, usually written in kana. The kanji 土蜘蛛 literally means 'earth spider'.

See also: ジグモ

• つちぐもは地じ面めんに穴あなを掘ほって巣すを作つくる。

  The tsuchigumo digs a hole in the ground and builds a nest.

noun

tsuchigumo (ancient non-Yamato people)

Historical term for indigenous or non-Yamato groups in ancient Japan, often portrayed as earth-dwelling or cave-dwelling people in early chronicles. The kanji 土雲 is sometimes used.

• 古こ事じ記きには、つちぐもと呼よばれる人ひと々びとが登とう場じょうする。

  In the Kojiki, people called tsuchigumo appear.