波布

Japanese

波布 (habu): the habu pit viper.

Kanji in this term
波	布
は Grade: 3	ふ > ぶ Grade: 5
on'yomi

Alternative forms

• 飯匙倩, ハブ

Etymology

Various theories exist.

• Possibly an alteration from 反鼻 (hanbi), an obsolete term for a kind of Chinese medicine made from the skin and/or organs of certain venomous snakes.
• More likely, may be an alteration from 蛇 (hebi, “snake”). Some dialects distinguish between non-poisonous hebi and poisonous habi.
• Possibly also related to, or influenced by, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese-derived verb 食む (hamu, “to bite”). An /m/ - /b/ alternation can be found in some Japanese words, so a shift from hamu to habu is a reasonable possibility. The standard modern Japanese word hebi for “snake” may similarly be derived from, or have been influenced by, hamu “to bite”.

The kanji spelling 波布 is an example of ateji, with the characters chosen purely for their phonetic values.

Noun

波(は)布(ぶ) or 波布(ハブ) • (habu) 

1. Trimeresurus flavoviridis (syn. Protobothrops flavoviridis), a species of venomous pit viper native to Okinawa

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 本波布(ほんはぶ) (honhabu): the “real” or “true” habu
• ハブ属(ぞく) (habuzoku): the genus
• 波布草(はぶそう) (habusō): , also called coffee senna or coffeeweed, a wide-ranging tropical plant with seeds sometimes used for a beverage similar to coffee
• 波布茶(はぶちゃ) (habucha): a beverage made by roasting senna seeds and steeping in water

Descendants

• English: habu

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Miyako

Alternative forms

• 蛇

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 蛇 (hebi).

Noun

波布 (hiragana ぱゔ, romaji pav)

1. snake, viper, Okinawan habu

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Okinawan

Alternative forms

• 蛇

Etymology

Cognate with mainland Japanese 蛇 (hebi).

Noun

波布 (hiragana はぶ, romaji habu)

1. snake, viper, Okinawan habu