狼

See also: 狠

Translingual

Han character

狼 (Kangxi radical 94, 犬+7, 10 strokes, cangjie input 大竹戈日女 (KHIAV), four-corner 4323₂, composition ⿰犭良)

Derived characters

• 𦵧, 𥱉, 𮯏

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 712, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20432
• Dae Jaweon: page 1124, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1350, character 7
• Unihan data for U+72FC

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Chinese

simp. and trad.		狼

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 狼
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (良) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
剆	*raːl, *raːlʔ
郎	*raːŋ
稂	*raːŋ
桹	*raːŋ
鋃	*raːŋ
硠	*raːŋ
浪	*raːŋ, *raːŋs
蜋	*raːŋ, *raŋ
琅	*raːŋ
狼	*raːŋ
欴	*raːŋ
踉	*raːŋ, *raŋ, *raŋs
莨	*raːŋ, *raːŋs
艆	*raːŋ
駺	*raːŋ
躴	*raːŋ
筤	*raːŋ
閬	*raːŋ, *raːŋs
哴	*raːŋ, *raŋs
蓈	*raːŋ
廊	*raːŋ
榔	*raːŋ, *raːŋʔ
螂	*raːŋ
瑯	*raːŋ
朗	*raːŋʔ
朖	*raːŋʔ
誏	*raːŋʔ
俍	*raːŋʔ
崀	*raːŋʔ
埌	*raːŋs
蒗	*raːŋs
娘	*naŋ
良	*raŋ
粮	*raŋ
悢	*raŋs

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *raːŋ) : semantic 犭 + phonetic 良 (OC *raŋ).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 狼

1. wolf (Classifier: 匹 m; 隻／只 m c; 條／条 m)
2. (figurative) dirty guy; pervert

Synonyms

• (wolf): (Min Nan) 普狸

Compounds

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

狼

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. wolf

Readings

• Go-on: ろう (rō)^{←らう (rau, historical)}
• Kan-on: ろう (rō)^{←らう (rau, historical)}
• Kun: おおかみ (ōkami, 狼)^{←おほかみ (ofokami, 狼, historical)}

Compounds

Compounds

On'yomi:

• 狼(ろう)咽(いん) (rōin): cleft palate
• 狼(ろう)烟(えん) (rōen): a signal fire
• 狼(ろう)煙(えん) (rōen): a signal fire
• 狼(ろう)火(か) (rōka): a signal fire
• 狼(ろう)牙(げ)棒(ぼう) (rōgebō): a wolf's teeth mace
• 狼(ろう)子(し)野(や)心(しん) (rōshiyashin): untamed
• 狼(ろう)藉(じゃく)日(にち) (rōjakunichi): in the Onmyōdō religion, a day when everything is evil
• 狼(ろう)燧(すい) (rōsui): a signal fire
• 狼(ろう)星(せい) (rōsei): Sirius, the Dog Star
• 狼(ろう)藉(ぜき) (rōzeki): disorderly; violent; savage
• 狼(ろう)藉(ぜき)者(もの) (rōzekimono): a ruffian
• 狼(ろう)瘡(そう) (rōsō): (pathology) lupus
• 狼(ろう)毒(どく) (rōdoku): Japanese wolfsbane, a poisonous perennial of the family Thymelaeaceae
• 狼(ろう)狽(ばい) (rōbai): panic, confusion
• 狼(ろう)戻(れい) (rōrei): disorderly; violent; savage

Kun'yomi:

• 狼(おおかみ)男(おとこ) (ōkami otoko): a wolfman, a werewolf
• 狼(おおかみ)座(ざ) (ōkamiza): the Lupus constellation
• 狼(おおかみ)人(にん)間(げん) (ōkami ningen): a werewolf
• 狼(おおかみ)者(もの) (ōkamimono): a brazen, impudent, or cunning person

Irregular:

• 狼狽眼(うろたえまなこ) (urotaemanako): surprised or panicked eyes
• 狼狽者(うろたえもの) (urotaemono): an easily confused person
• 狼牙(みつもとそう) (mitsumotosō): a type of cinquefoil, sp. Potentilla cryptotaeniae
• 狼煙守(のろしまもり) (noroshimamori): a signal fire keeper or tender

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
狼
おおかみ Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

/opo kami₂/ → /opokami/ → /ofokami/ → /owokami/ → /oːkami/

From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of 大 (opo, “great”) +‎ 神 (kami, “god, spirit”).

Noun

1. a wolf (animal)
   • 794, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki:

     狐狼 上扈反, 倭言岐都禰, 又狐諼獸鬼所乘有三徳, 狐疑不定也, 狼音良, 訓, 似犬也, 倭言大神也

   • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 7, page 56:

     犲狼 [...] 説文云、狼、音郎、於保加美、和名二字、本草和名、犲皮、和名於保加美、雄略紀、豺狼二字同訓、貝原氏曰、狼、於保加美 [...]

   • 938, Minamoto no Shitagō, Wamyō Ruijushō, volume 18, page 17:
     (Shinpukuji manuscript)

     犲狼: 兼名苑云狼一名犲音於説文云狼音即和名於保加美似犬而銃頭白頬者也爾雅注云獥音叫狼子也

   • c. 1177-1188: Iroha Jiruishō

     狼（オホカミ）

   • 1444: Kagakushū (Volume 13)

     狼（ヲヽカミ）

2. Short for 日本狼 (Nihon'ōkami, “Japanese wolf”).
   • 2006 May 20, Michiyo Akaishi, “最(さい)終(しゅう)話(わ) [Final Chapter]”, in AMAKUSA(アマクサ)1637 (AMAKUSA(アマクサ)1637) [Amakusa 1637], volume 12 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 179:

     狼(おおかみ)って絶(ぜつ)滅(めつ)してないの？

     Ōkamitte zetsumetsu shite nai no?

     Aren’t wolves supposed to be extinct?

     狼(おおかみ)いっぱいいますよー　どうしたんです　会(かい)長(ちょう)　今日(きょう)は

     Ōkami ippai imasu yō Dō shitan desu kaichō kyō wa

     Wolves are all alive and well. Why are you acting so strange today, chief?

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 オオカミ.

See also

• (canids) イヌ科(か) (Inu-ka, “Canidae”); 犬(イヌ) (inu, “dog”), 狼(オオカミ) (ōkami, “wolf”), 狐(キツネ) (kitsune, “fox”), コヨーテ (koyōte, “coyote”), ジャッカル (jakkaru, “jackal”) ^{(Category: ja:Canids)}

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
狼
おおかめ Jinmeiyō
irregular

Alteration from ōkami above. Appears in the Kamakura period.

Noun

狼(おおかめ) • (ōkame) ^{←おほかめ (ofokame)?}

1. (possibly obsolete) a wolf (animal)
   • 1593: Esopono fabulas (Aesop's Fables), "Vôcameto, fitcujino tatoyeno coto"

     Aru cauabatani vôcamemo, fitcujimo mizzuuo nomuni, [...]

   • 1603–1604, Nippo Jisho, page 697:

     Vôcame. ヲゥカメ (狼) 狼.

   • 1632: Diego Collado, Dictionarium Sive Thesauri Linguae Iaponicae Compendium, page 75

     Lupus, i: lobo: yàmàinu. vel, vocame:

References

• Doi, Tadao (1603–1604) Hōyaku Nippo Jisho (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 1980, →ISBN.
• Minamoto, Shitagō with Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu (931–938) Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, published 1968, →ISBN.
• Tadakane, Tachibana with Atsuo Masamune (ed.) (c. 1177-1188) Iroha Jiruishō (in Japanese), Kazama Shobō, published 1971
• Takeuchi, Rizō (1962) Nara Ibun: Volume 3 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Tōkyōdō Shuppan, →ISBN.

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Korean

Hanja

狼 (eumhun 이리 랑 (iri rang), word-initial (South Korea) 이리 낭 (iri nang))

1. wolf

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Vietnamese

Han character

狼: Hán Việt readings: lang
狼: Nôm readings: lang

1. chữ Hán form of lang (“wolf”).

Compounds

• 𣋀天狼 (Sao Thiên Lang, “Sirius”)