アリマキ

ア

リ

マ

キ

Meanings

aphid; plant louse

usually written using kana alone

Common name for small sap-sucking insects; often seen in contexts of gardening or agriculture. Cross-referenced with アブラムシ, which is a more common synonym.

Kanji

蟻ant
巻scroll, volume, book
蚜plant louse, aphids
虫insect, bug, temper

Related words

アブラムシ
アブラムシ is a more common and general term for aphids. アリマキ is a synonym, but may be less frequently used in everyday conversation.

Built from

あり+巻まき

Written forms

アリマキUsage100%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is the most common written form for this word; usually written in kana.
ありまき
Hiragana spelling is also used, but less common than katakana.
蟻あり巻まき
Rare kanji spelling; the characters mean 'ant' and 'scroll/roll', possibly from the way ants tend aphids.
蚜虫ありまき
Rare kanji spelling using characters for 'aphid' and 'insect'.

Etymology

The word is a compound of 蟻 (ari, 'ant') and 巻き (maki, 'winding' or 'rolling'), possibly from the way ants tend aphids for their honeydew. The exact derivation is uncertain.