河豚

Chinese

		river	suckling pig
trad. (河豚)		河	豚
simp. #(河豚)		河	豚
alternative forms		河魨／河鲀

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hétún

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄜˊ ㄊㄨㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ho⁴ tyun⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hétún
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄜˊ ㄊㄨㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hétún
    • Wade–Giles: ho²-tʻun²
    • Yale: hé-twún
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hertwen
    • Palladius: хэтунь (xɛtunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xɤ³⁵ tʰu̯ən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ho⁴ tyun⁴
    • Yale: hòh tyùhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ho⁴ tyn⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ho⁴ tün⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔː²¹ tʰyːn²¹/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 河豚

1. blowfish; puffer
2. river dolphin

Synonyms

• (Min Nan) 乖仔魚／乖仔鱼

Hyponyms

• (Min Nan) 刺䲅／刺𫚜

Derived terms

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

河豚 (fugu, katon): a blowfish in a tank.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
河	豚
Grade: 5	Grade: S
irregular

In light of the older pronunciation fuku, most likely derived from the verb 吹く (fuku, “to blow”), perhaps from the way the fish blow sand to find food. Alternatively, related to the verb 膨れる (fukureru, “to swell up, to expand”).

Alternative forms

• 鰒, 𩷪

Noun

河豚(ふぐ) or 河豚(フグ) • (fugu) 

1. a blowfish
2. (slang) a fat and unattractive woman
3. (slang) someone who is quick to anger and who puffs up
4. (slang) a gun (from the way that getting hit may kill)

Usage notes

• The kanji spelling is uncommonly used. Usually spelled in kana.
• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as フグ.

Synonyms

• (Kansai) 鉄砲(てっぽう) (teppō)

Descendants

• English: fugu

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
河	豚
か Grade: 5	とん Grade: S
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 河豚 (MC ha dwon, literally “river + pig”). Compare modern Mandarin reading hétún.

Noun

河(か)豚(とん) or 河豚(カトン) • (katon) 

1. blowfish

Usage notes

This reading is less common than fugu above.