鶏

See also 鷄, and 雞

Translingual

Han character

鶏 (radical 196 鳥+8, 19 strokes, cangjie input 月人竹日火 (BOHAF))

1. chicken, fowl, poultry

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 1494, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 47074
• Dae Jaweon: page 2024, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: not present, would follow volume 7, page 4641, character 14
• Unihan data for U+9D8F

---

Japanese

Kanji

鶏 (common “Jōyō” kanji)

Alternative forms

• 鷄
• 雞

Readings

• On: けい (kei)
• Kun: にわとり (niwatori), とり (tori)

Etymology 1

nipatori > niɸatori > niwatori. Compound of 庭 (nipa, “garden”) +‎ 鳥 (tori, “bird”).

Noun

鶏 (hiragana にわとり, romaji niwatori, historical hiragana にはとり)

1. a chicken (a bird)

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic of the sound made by a chicken: compare to English cluck

Noun

鶏 (hiragana かけ, romaji kake)

1. a chicken (a bird)

Etymology 3

Compound of くた (kuta, “root for numerous verbs, implying low-grade, rotten, stinky”) +‎ かけ (kake, “chicken: see above”).

Formerly a derogatory term for a chicken. Over time, the derogatory sense was lost, and the term instead took on an old-fashioned or archaic sense.

Noun

鶏 (hiragana くたかけ, romaji kutakake)

1. a chicken (a bird)