ハチドリ

ハ

チ

ド

リ

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun

hummingbird

usually written using kana alone

Refers to any bird of the family Trochilidae. The katakana form ハチドリ is standard.

Kanji

蜂bee, wasp, hornet
鳥bird, chicken

Related words

ハミングバード
ハミングバード is a direct loanword from English, while ハチドリ is the native Japanese term. Both refer to the same bird, but ハチドリ is more common in everyday Japanese.

Word family

ヒメハチドリ
Calliope hummingbird
ノドアカハチドリ
ruby-throated hummingbird
アンナはちどり
Anna's hummingbird

Built from

蜂はち+鳥とり

Written forms

ハチドリUsage50%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is the most common written form for this word.
蜂はち鳥どりUsage40%
Kanji spelling is rare and may not be widely recognized.
はちどりUsage10%
Hiragana spelling, also used.

Etymology

Compound of 蜂 (hachi, 'bee') and 鳥 (tori, 'bird'), with rendaku voicing of tori to dori. The name comes from the hummingbird's bee-like size and hovering flight.