慈姑

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See also: 慈菇

Chinese

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compassionate; gentle; merciful
compassionate; gentle; merciful; kind; humane
 
paternal aunt
trad. (慈姑)
simp. #(慈姑)
alternative forms 慈菇 “arrowhead”
慈菰 “arrowhead”
茨菇 “arrowhead”
茨菰 “arrowhead”

Etymology

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Concerning the name of the plant, Compendium of Materia Medica says:

十二慈姑 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
十二慈姑 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Yī gēn suì shēng shí'èr zǐ, rú cígū zhī rǔ zhū zǐ, gù yǐ míng zhī. [Pinyin]
One [arrowroot] yields twelve fruits, as a kind mother gives birth to many sons, hence it is so called.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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慈姑

  1. (literary) husband's mother; mother-in-law
  2. arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia)
  3. (dialectal) water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis)

Synonyms

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  • (arrowhead):
  • (water chestnut):

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Macanese: chicú

Japanese

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Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
慈姑 (kuwai): the arrowhead plant.
Kanji in this term
くわい
Grade: S Hyōgai
jukujikun

Etymology

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Unknown. One theory suggests that this is an alteration from (kawa imo, “river tuber”), but the old kana spelling of くわゐ (kuwawi) for 慈姑 does not match the old kana spelling of かはうも (kafaumo) for . This is more likely a compound of (kuwa, plow), from the shape of the leaves, plus an unknown element (wi).

The kanji are an orthographic borrowing from Chinese name for this plant.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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慈姑(くわい) or 慈姑(クワイ) (kuwaiくわゐ (kwawi)?

  1. arrowhead, Sagittaria trifolia var. edulis, cultivated since ancient times for its edible bulb

Usage notes

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As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as クワイ.

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN