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大猩々 (おおしょうじょう) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

大おお猩しょう々じょう

お

お

しょ

う

じょ

う

Meanings

1

gorilla

rare term

Rare term for gorilla; in modern Japanese, ゴリラ is overwhelmingly more common. This kanji form may appear in older or literary contexts.

古ふるい文ぶん献けんでは、ゴリラのことを「大おお猩

しょう

々じょう

」

と

記しる

し

て

いる

こと

が

ある

。

In old documents, gorillas are sometimes written as 大猩々.

Kanji

大large, big
猩orangutan, dark red

Related words

ゴリラ
The standard modern word for gorilla, used in almost all contexts. 大猩々 is a rare, literary kanji form.

Built from

大おお+猩しょう々じょう

Written forms

大おお猩しょう々じょう
Rare kanji spelling for gorilla; the second character is a variant of 猩.
大おお猩しょう猩じょう
Rare kanji spelling for gorilla.

Etymology

The kanji 猩 refers to orangutan or large ape; 大猩々 literally means 'large orangutan/ape'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it is a kanji-based term for gorilla, now largely replaced by the loanword ゴリラ.