アザラシ

ア

ザ

ラ

シ

Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

seal; earless seal; true seal

usually written using kana alone

Refers specifically to earless seals (family Phocidae), as opposed to eared seals like sea lions (アシカ). In everyday use, アザラシ often covers seals in general.

Kanji

海sea, ocean
豹leopard, panther

Don't confuse with

アシカ
アザラシ (earless seal) lacks visible ear flaps and cannot walk on land, while アシカ (sea lion) has ear flaps and can move on its flippers.
オットセイ
アザラシ is an earless true seal, whereas オットセイ (fur seal) is an eared seal more closely related to アシカ.
トド
アザラシ is an earless seal, while トド (Steller sea lion) is a large eared seal in the アシカ family, not a true seal.

Counted with

匹ひきN3
counter for small animals · counter for rolls of cloth · archaic counter for horses · roll of cloth

Word family· 18

Show 5 more

ハイイロアザラシ
gray seal; grey seal
タテゴトアザラシ
harp seal
カニクイアザラシ
crabeater seal
ワモンアザラシ
ringed seal
ゼニガタアザラシ
harbor seal; common seal

See all 18 in Explore →

Written forms

アザラシUsage90%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard; the word is usually written in kana.
あざらしUsage8%
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Hiragana spelling, also common.
海豹Usage1%
rarely-used kanji form
- あざらし
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
  Rarely used kanji form; the reading あざらし is a jukujikun. The on'yomi かいひょう is also possible but very rare.
- かいひょう
かいひょう

Etymology

The word アザラシ is of uncertain origin. It may be related to 痣 (aza, 'bruise') and ラシ (rashi, possibly from 海獺 rashio, 'sea otter'), but this is speculative. The kanji 海豹 literally mean 'sea leopard' and are a jukujikun reading.