コオロギ

コ

オ

ロ

ギ

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

usually written using kana alone

Refers to crickets of the family Gryllidae. In everyday Japanese, the katakana spelling コオロギ is most common.

クリケット
クリケット is the British bat-and-ball sport, while コオロギ is the insect also called 'cricket' in English—unrelated in Japanese despite the shared English name.

コオロギUsage77%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this animal name; usually written in kana.
こおろぎUsage17%
Hiragana spelling is also common and matches the usual-kana preference.
蟋蟀こおろぎUsage5%
Rare kanji spelling; mainly encountered in literary or scientific contexts.
蛩こおろぎ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.
蛬こおろぎ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

The word is native Japanese. The exact derivation is uncertain, but it is likely mimetic or sound-symbolic in origin, imitating the insect's chirp.