マイルカ

Meanings

noun

short-beaked common dolphin

usually written using kana alone

A species of dolphin (Delphinus delphis) found in temperate and tropical waters worldwide.

マイルカは世せ界かい中じゅうの温あたたかい海うみに生せい息そくしている。
Short-beaked common dolphins inhabit warm seas around the world.
水すい族ぞく館かんでマイルカの群むれを見みた。
I saw a pod of short-beaked common dolphins at the aquarium.

See all 3 example sentences ›

Kanji

真true, reality, Buddhist sect
海sea, ocean
豚pork, pig

Related words

イルカ
イルカ is the general term for dolphin; マイルカ refers specifically to the short-beaked common dolphin species.

Built from

真ま+イルカ

Written forms

マイルカUsage100%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this species name; the kanji form 真海豚 is rare and mainly used in scientific contexts.
まいるか
Hiragana spelling is also used, but katakana is more common for animal names.
真ま海豚いるか
Kanji form is rarely used; learners will almost always encounter the katakana spelling.

Etymology

The name マイルカ is a compound of 真 (ma, 'true') and 海豚 (iruka, 'dolphin'), but the exact origin is uncertain; it may have been coined to distinguish this species from other dolphins.