夜よ這ばい星ぼし

Meanings

Poetic or literary term for a shooting star, literally 'night-crawling star'. Used in classical or romantic contexts rather than everyday speech; the common modern term is 流れ星.

夜よ空ぞらに夜よ這ばい星ぼしが流ながれた。
A shooting star streaked across the night sky.
昔むかしの人ひとは夜よ這ばい星ぼしに願ねがいをかけたという。
It is said that people long ago made wishes upon shooting stars.

Kanji

夜night, evening
這crawl, creep, grovel
星star, spot, dot
婚marriage

Related words

流ながれ星ぼし
流れ星 is the standard modern word for 'shooting star', while 夜這い星 is a poetic, old-fashioned synonym.

Written forms

夜よ這ばい星ぼし
Most common kanji spelling for this poetic term for a shooting star.
夜よ這ばい星ぼし
Variant spelling without okurigana; less common but still encountered.
婚星よばいぼし
Alternate kanji using 婚 (marriage) instead of 夜這い (night crawling); rare and potentially confusing.
婚よばい星ぼし
Variant of 婚星 with okurigana; very rare.

Etymology

Compound of 夜這い (yobai, 'night crawling', an old custom of visiting a lover at night) and 星 (hoshi, 'star'), referring to a star that seems to crawl across the night sky. The exact origin is uncertain, but the term evokes a romantic, fleeting image.