ニホンオオカミ

also: にほんオオカミ · にほんおおかみ

ニ

ホ

ン

オ

カ

ミ

Meanings

1

noun

Japanese wolf (extinct)

usually written using kana alone

Refers specifically to the extinct subspecies Canis lupus hodophilax, once native to Japan. Often contrasted with the also-extinct Hokkaido wolf (エゾオオカミ).

Kanji

日day, sun, Japan
本book, present, main
狼wolf

Related words

山やま犬いぬ
Sometimes used synonymously with ニホンオオカミ in older texts, but can also refer to feral dogs or a legendary creature; ニホンオオカミ is the precise modern term for the extinct subspecies.
エゾオオカミ
The Hokkaido wolf (Canis lupus hattai), another extinct Japanese wolf subspecies; larger than the Japanese wolf.

Written forms

にほんオオカミ
Mixed hiragana-katakana spelling; less common than the full katakana form.
日に本ほんオオカミ
Kanji-katakana spelling; used in some scientific or formal contexts.
日本にほん狼おおかみ
Full kanji spelling; rarely used and may be unfamiliar to many readers.
にほんおおかみ

Etymology

Compound of 日本 (Nihon, 'Japan') and オオカミ (ōkami, 'wolf'). The kanji spelling 狼 is the native Japanese word for wolf.