猿
Meanings
monkey; ape; non-human primate
The everyday word for a monkey, especially a Japanese macaque in Japanese contexts. It can also be used more loosely for apes or non-human primates, but biological writing may use more specific terms.
See also: ニホンザル
I saw a troop of monkeys on the mountain path.
There are several kinds of monkeys at the zoo.
sly person
Derogatory use comparing a person to a monkey in the sense of being sly or crafty. As a standalone insult, it is context-dependent and should be used with caution.
He cursed the man who had tricked the other person as a sly monkey.
Derogatory insult implying that someone is foolish, crude, or uncultured. It is offensive and dehumanizing when used of a person.
Stop calling people idiots like that.
A specialized term for a wooden sliding bolt or bar used to keep a door or window shut, mainly relevant to traditional fittings.
In old fittings, the wooden crosspiece used to fasten a door is sometimes called a saru.
pot-hook height clasp
Traditional hearth terminology: a clasp or fitting used to adjust the height of a pot-hook, associated with 自在鉤.
See also: 自在鉤
The pot-hook over the hearth has an adjusting fitting called a saru.
bathhouse prostitute
Archaic term referring to a prostitute associated with bathhouses, corresponding to a historical sense of 湯女. Not used as a modern ordinary noun.
See also: 湯女
In Edo-period materials, there are examples of bathhouse prostitutes being called saru.
Usage patterns
- 〈人〉が猿を飼うfor someone to keep a monkey (as a pet)
A neighbor keeps a pet monkey.
- 猿に〈物〉をやるto give food to a monkey
I gave a banana to a monkey at the zoo.
- 猿のように〈動詞〉to do something nimbly, like a monkey
He climbed the tree nimbly, like a monkey.
- 〈人〉を猿呼ばわりするto call someone a monkey (as an insult)
It's rude to call him a monkey like that.