怪盗

Japanese

Kanji in this term
怪	盗
かい Grade: S	とう Grade: S
kan'on

Alternative spelling
怪盜 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Uncertain. May be from Middle Chinese 怪盜 (kweaj^H daw^H, literally “peculiar thief”), or alternatively may be a coinage in Japan of Middle Chinese-derived elements as a compound of 怪 (kai, “phantom”) +‎ 盗 (tō, “stealing, thievery; thief”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かいとー [kàítóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ito̞ː]

• Homophones: 回答, 会頭, 解答, 解凍, 解党, 快投, 解糖, 会党, 回頭, 快刀

Noun

怪(かい)盗(とう) • (kaitō) ^{←くわいたう (kwaitau)?}

1. a mysterious "phantom thief" in Japanese fiction, who excels at theatrics and evading capture and who steals for thrill rather than for personal gain
   • 1999 March 27, “魅(み)惑(わく)の怪(かい)盗(とう) [The Bewitching Phantom Thief]”, in Vol.2, Konami:

     黒(くろ)いマントをはおるキザな怪(かい)盗(とう)。杖(つえ)を振(ふ)って、相(あい)手(て)を魅(み)了(りょう)する。

     Kuroi manto o haoru kiza na kaitō. Tsue o futte, aite o miryō suru.

     A smug phantom thief in a black cape. He mesmerizes his opponents with a mere cane swing.

   • 2007 March 15, Gosho Aoyama, “ゴールデン・アイの巻(まき)【前(ぜん)編(ぺん)】 [Golden Eye (First Chapter)]”, in まじっく快(かい)斗(と) [Magic Kaito], volume 4 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:

     パリじゃ評(ひょう)判(ばん)になってるよ…フランスの怪(かい)盗(とう)黒猫(シャノワール)が日(にっ)本(ぽん)で君(きみ)と対(たい)決(けつ)するとね…

     Pari ja hyōban ni natteru yo… Furansu no kaitō Sha Nowāru ga Nippon de kimi to taiketsu suru to ne…

     News of the showdown in Japan… between the French phantom thief Chat Noir and you is spreading all over Paris…

References

• “怪盗”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026