胡獱

Japanese

Etymology 1

海馬 (todo): a female and male Steller sea lion.

Kanji in this term
胡	獱
Jinmeiyō	Hyōgaiji
irregular

Borrowed from Ainu トド (todo) or トト (toto, “sea lion”). The kanji spelling is an instance of jukujikun (熟字訓) from the older term kohin (see below).

Pronunciation

• Homophones: 椴, 鯔

Alternative forms

• 海馬

Noun

胡獱(とど) or 胡獱(トド) • (todo) 

1. a Steller sea lion

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 トド. The kanji spellings are rare. When written in kanji, the 胡獱 spelling may be more common, likely to avoid confusion with the alternate readings of the 海馬 spelling of umiuma and kaiba.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
胡	獱
こ Jinmeiyō	ひん Hyōgaiji
on'yomi

Appears to be a coinage in Japan of Middle Chinese-derived elements, as a compound of 胡 (ko, “reckless”) +‎ 獱 (hin, “otter”, by extension, in reference to a marine mammal).

Noun

胡(こ)獱(ひん) • (kohin) 

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) a Steller sea lion

Usage notes

The kohin reading has been superseded by the Ainu borrowing todo above.