also: こし
bedpan; chamber pot; potty
Only with reading まる
Archaic term for a bedpan or chamber pot, now replaced by おまる. The reading まる is a gikun (meaning-based reading) for this sense.
See also: おまる
In the past, 虎子 was written and read as まる to refer to a bedpan.
baby tiger; hard-earned reward
Only with reading こし
Literally 'baby tiger'; also used figuratively in the proverb 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず ('Nothing ventured, nothing gained') to mean a valuable prize obtained through risk.
See also: 虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず
If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch its cub. (Nothing ventured, nothing gained.)
This success is truly a hard-earned reward.
Archaic gikun reading used only for the 'bedpan' sense; cross-referenced with おまる.
The kanji 虎 (tiger) and 子 (child) literally mean 'tiger cub'. The archaic 'bedpan' sense with the gikun reading まる is of uncertain origin, possibly from a euphemistic or metaphorical use.