馬うま

う

ま

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

The ordinary noun for a horse. It can refer to the animal generally, including horses used for riding, farming, racing, or kept at a ranch.

Related words

競馬 is the full, standard word for horse racing, while 馬 is a casual shorthand often used when talking about betting or winning/losing on the races.

竜馬 is the full shogi term for a promoted bishop, while 馬 is the common shortened form players use during a game.

馬 is the everyday modern word for 'horse', while 駒 is an archaic or poetic term for the same animal.

馬 is the general word for horse, while 競走馬 specifically means a horse bred and trained for racing.

馬 is the generic word for any horse, while 白馬 specifies a horse with a white coat.

Don't confuse with

乗馬 means horse-riding (the activity or a riding horse), whereas 馬 by itself just means the animal without implying riding.

馬 is the everyday word for the animal 'horse', while 午 is the zodiac/calendrical sign associated with the horse, though both share the reading うま.

馬 refers to a horse, while ロバ refers to a donkey, a smaller and different equine species.

Written forms

馬うまUsage95%

Standard high-priority kanji spelling for the animal and for several established extended uses.

ウマUsage3%

kana-only spelling

Attested katakana spelling; often used for the animal name in biological, emphatic, or stylized contexts.

うまUsage1%

Hiragana spelling is practical in learner-facing, children’s, or informal writing, especially for the animal.