Specifically refers to young rice plants ready for transplanting into paddy fields. Common in agricultural and seasonal contexts.
It's the season for planting rice seedlings in the paddies.
The farmers planted the rice seedlings in the paddy field.
The rice seedlings are growing steadily in the nursery bed.
The children carried bundles of rice seedlings out to the paddy.
稲 refers to the rice plant at any growth stage, while 早苗 names it only during its young, transplant-ready seedling stage.
苗 is the general word for any young plant or seedling, while 早苗 refers specifically to a young rice plant ready for transplanting.
Used for 早苗 (rice seedlings) when they are bundled together, as bundled rice plants or seedlings often are.
Standard kanji spelling; common in news and modern writing.
Outdated kanji form; not used in modern Japanese.
From the old prefix さ, marking something early or young, plus 苗, “rice seedling.” 早 is a meaning-based spelling for the prefix; the word appears in poetry from the early tenth century.