アシカ

ア

シ

カ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

eared seal; sea lion

usually written using kana alone

Refers to eared seals, especially the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). Often contrasted with アザラシ (earless seal).

Kanji

海sea, ocean
驢donkey
馬horse
葦reed, bullrush
鹿deer

Don't confuse with

アザラシ
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.

Written forms

アシカUsage89%
kana-only spelling
Usually written in katakana; the hiragana spelling あしか is also common.
あしかUsage11%
Hiragana spelling; katakana is more common for animal names.
海驢
rarely-used kanji form
- あしか
  Rarely used kanji form; the reading みち is obsolete.
- みち
  out-dated reading
葦あし鹿か
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
海馬あしか
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; also read かいば (hippocampus) or うみうま (sea horse).
みち
out-dated reading

Etymology

The word あしか is of uncertain origin. It may be related to 足 (あし, 'foot') and 鹿 (か, 'deer'), but this is speculative. The kanji forms 海驢, 葦鹿, and 海馬 are ateji and rarely used.