オオコウモリ

お

こ

う

も

り

Meanings

1

fruit bat; flying fox; megabat

usually written using kana alone

Refers to any bat of the family Pteropodidae, typically large fruit-eating bats. In everyday Japanese, オオコウモリ is the standard term.

Fruit bats eat fruit.

動どう物ぶつ園えんで大おおきなオオコウモリを見みた。

I saw a large flying fox at the zoo.

コウモリ
コウモリ is the general term for 'bat' (order Chiroptera), while オオコウモリ specifically refers to the larger fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae.

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オオコウモリ
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this animal name; usually written in kana.
大おお蝙蝠こうもり
Kanji spelling exists but is rarely used; the katakana form is strongly preferred.

Compound of 大 (おお, 'large') + コウモリ (こうもり, 'bat'). The word コウモリ itself is of uncertain origin, possibly from 川獺 (かわうそ, 'otter') or a mimetic word.