エイ

エ

イ

JLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

1

usually written using kana alone

General term for rays and skates (superorder Batoidea). Usually written in katakana as エイ.

水すい族ぞく館かんで大おおきなエイを見みた。
I saw a big ray at the aquarium.
エイは海かい底ていに住すんでいる。
Rays live on the ocean floor.

Kanji

鱝
鱏ray, skate
海sea, ocean
鷂sparrow hawk
魚fish

Don't confuse with

サメ
エイ (rays) and サメ (sharks) are both cartilaginous fish that learners often lump together, but エイ have flattened bodies and gill slits on their underside while サメ have torpedo-shaped bodies and lateral gill slits.

Counted with

尾び
As a fish, 鱝 (えい, ray) is naturally counted with 尾 (び).

Word family

ツバクロエイ
Japanese butterfly ray
ノコギリエイ
sawfish
トビエイ
Japanese eagle ray
イトマキエイ
spinetail devil ray; Japanese devil ray
ガンギエイ
skate (Rajidae spp., esp. Kwangtung skate, Dipturus kwangtungensis)

Written forms

エイUsage53%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this animal name; usually written in kana.
えいUsage45%
Hiragana spelling, also common.
鱏えいUsage1%
Rare kanji form; not in common use.
鱝えい
Rare kanji form; not in common use.
海鷂魚えい
Rare kanji form; not in common use.

Etymology

The origin is uncertain. The word is native Japanese, and the kanji forms are rare and not etymologically transparent.