ミソサザイ

also: みそさざい

ミ

ソ

サ

ザ

イ

Meanings

noun

Eurasian wren; wren

usually written using kana alone

A small brown songbird (Troglodytes troglodytes) found across Eurasia. In everyday Japanese, the katakana name is standard.

ミソサザイは小ちいさくて丸まるい鳥とりだ。
The Eurasian wren is a small, round bird.
森もりでミソサザイのさえずりを聞きいた。
I heard a wren singing in the forest.

Written forms

ミソサザイUsage68%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is standard for this bird name; usually written in kana.
みそさざいUsage16%
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Hiragana spelling, also common.
鷦鷯みそさざいUsage16%
gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Rare kanji form; the characters are obscure and not in common use.
三み十そ三さ才ざい
ateji (phonetic kanji usage)gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
Ateji spelling; the kanji 三十三才 literally mean 'thirty-three years old' and are used phonetically for the bird's name.

Kanji

鷦wren
鷯wren
三three
十ten
才genius, years old, cubic shaku

Etymology

The Japanese name ミソサザイ is of uncertain origin. The kanji 鷦鷯 are Chinese characters for the wren, while 三十三才 is an ateji spelling based on the reading.