海獣

Japanese

Kanji in this term
海	獣
かい Grade: 2	じゅう Grade: S
kan'yōon	on'yomi

Alternative spelling
海獸 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

海(かい) (kai, “sea”) + 獣(じゅう) (jū, “beast”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠iʑɨː]

Noun

海(かい)獣(じゅう) • (kaijū) ^{←かいじう (kaiziu)?}

1. marine mammal
   • 1937, Roryō suisan kumiai, Kamuchakka keizai jijō [Kamchatka’s economic situation]‎^[1], page 418:

     幼(えう)獸(じう)をも含(ふく)む海(かい)獸(じう)を全(ぜん)部(ぶ)一(いつ)頭(とう)殘(のこ)らず屠(と)殺(さつ)すると云(い)ふ以(い)上(じやう)の如(ごと)き事(じ)實(じつ)は海豹(アザラシ)のみならず海驢(アシカ)についても見(み)られる所(ところ)である。

     Yōjū o mo fukumu kaijū o zenbu ittō nokorazu tosatsu suru to iu ijō no gotoki jijitsu wa azarashi nomi narazu ashika ni tsuite mo mirareru tokoro de aru.

     This sort of total and indiscriminate slaughter of marine mammals, including pups, is carried out not only on seals but also on sea lions.

References

• “海獣”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026