Usage patterns 蝉せみ が 鳴な く cicadas chirp/sing
When summer comes, cicadas start singing in the trees.
蝉せみ の 抜ぬ け 殻がら a cicada's shed shell/skin
There were many cicada shells stuck to the tree in the yard.
蝉せみ を 捕つか まえる to catch a cicada
The children caught cicadas with a net.
Expressions 鳴な く 蝉せみ よりも 鳴な かぬ 蛍ほたる が 身み を 焦こ がす empty vessels make the most noise; the silent firefly burns with more passion than the crying cicada Don't confuse with バッタ is a grasshopper or locust, a jumping insect, while 蝉 is a cicada known for its loud buzzing song rather than jumping.
イナゴ is a locust (a type of grasshopper sometimes eaten as food), which is a completely different insect from 蝉 , the cicada.
Word family· 21 this mortal world; this transient life; one's present existence · cast-off cicada shell; cicada
large brown cicada; Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata
robust cicada; mingming cicada
chorus of cicadas; outburst of cicada singing
first cicada sound of the year
Show 9 more Show fewer voiceless cicada; female cicada
summer cicadas
cicada singing at dusk
cicadas that sing in late autumn
spring cicada; Terpnosia vacua
Matsuzemi cicada; cicada abundant in late spring
Cryptotympana facialis; bear cicada
autumn cicada
treehopper
See all 21 in Explore →
Written forms 蝉 Usage 8% i Usage for this spelling across all readings, not one reading alone.
セミ Usage 63%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially in informal contexts or when the kanji is considered difficult.
蟬 Usage 27% i Usage for this spelling across all readings, not one reading alone.
out-dated kanji form
せみ Usage 3%
せび
Etymology The word is native Japanese. The kanji 蝉 is a Chinese character used for the cicada. The reading せみ is the standard modern form; せび is an obsolete variant.
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