蛸

蛸 U+86F8, 蛸 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-86F8 ← 蛷 [U+86F7] CJK Unified Ideographs 蛹 → [U+86F9]

Translingual

Han character

蛸 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+7, 13 strokes, Cangjie input 中戈火月 (LIFB), four-corner 5912₇, composition ⿰虫肖)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1083, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33072
• Dae Jaweon: page 1551, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2855, character 3
• Unihan data for U+86F8

Chinese

trad.		蛸
simp. #		蛸

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 蛸
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Small seal script

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

	Old Chinese
梢	*sreːw
捎	*sreːw, *sew
筲	*sreːw
鞘	*sreːw, *slewɢs
艄	*sreːw
蛸	*sreːw, *sew
髾	*sreːw
輎	*sreːw
旓	*sreːw
弰	*sreːw
鮹	*sreːw, *sew
綃	*sreːw, *sew
颵	*sreːw
莦	*sreːw, *sew
娋	*sreːw, *sreːws
稍	*sreːws
哨	*sreːws, *sʰews, *sew
揱	*sreːwɢs, *slew, *sreːwɢ
潲	*sreːws
睄	*sreːws
悄	*sʰewʔ
俏	*sʰews
峭	*sʰews
陗	*sʰews
帩	*sʰews
誚	*zews
消	*sew
宵	*sew
霄	*sew
硝	*sew
銷	*sew
逍	*sew
魈	*sew
痟	*slew
焇	*sew
肖	*slew, *slews
韒	*slewɢs
趙	*l'ewʔ
箾	*seːw, *sleːw
踃	*seːw
削	*slewɢ
矟	*sreːwɢ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *sreːw, *sew): semantic 虫 + phonetic 肖 (OC *slew, *slews).

Pronunciation 1

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiāo (xiao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siao
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao¹
    • Yale: syāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiau
    • Palladius: сяо (sjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: siu¹
    • Yale: sīu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: sjew

Rime
Character	蛸
Reading #	1/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	相邀切
Baxter	sjew
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇu/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛu/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæu/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siaw/
Li Rong	/siɛu/
Wang Li	/sĭɛu/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛu/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiāo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*sew/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	蛸
Reading #	2/2
No.	13746
Phonetic component	肖
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	宵
Old Chinese	/*sew/

Definitions

蛸

1. used in 螵蛸 (piāoxiāo, “ootheca of a mantis”)
2. a surname

Compounds

• 海螵蛸 (hǎipiāoxiāo)
• 白蛸
• 螵蛸 (piāoxiāo)

Pronunciation 2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shāo (shao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saau¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shao
    • Wade–Giles: shao¹
    • Yale: shāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shau
    • Palladius: шао (šao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: saau¹
    • Yale: sāau
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saau¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sao¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːu̯⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: sraew

Rime
Character	蛸
Reading #	2/2
Initial (聲)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	肴 (90)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	II
Fanqie	所交切
Baxter	sraew
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃˠau/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃᵚau/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃau/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂaɨw/
Li Rong	/ʃau/
Wang Li	/ʃau/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂau/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shāo
Expected Cantonese Reflex	saau1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*sreːw/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	蛸
Reading #	1/2
No.	13715
Phonetic component	肖
Rime group	宵
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	梢
Old Chinese	/*sreːw/

Definitions

蛸

1. only used in 蠨蛸／蟏蛸 (xiāoshāo, “long-jawed spider (Tetragnathidae)”)

Compounds

• 蠨蛸 / 蟏蛸 (xiāoshāo)
• 蠨蛸滿堂 / 蟏蛸满堂 (xiāoshāomǎntáng)

Pronunciation 3

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shāo, xiāo (shao¹, xiao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄠ, ㄒㄧㄠ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shao
    • Wade–Giles: shao¹
    • Yale: shāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shau
    • Palladius: шао (šao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiāo
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siao
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao¹
    • Yale: syāu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiau
    • Palladius: сяо (sjao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/

Definitions

蛸

1. octopus; cuttlefish

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 章魚 (“octopus”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		章舉
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		章魚, 蛸
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	章魚
	Harbin	八大魚
	Singapore	八爪魚
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	八帶蛸
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	蛸, 八帶蛸
Cantonese	Guangzhou	章魚, 八爪魚
	Hong Kong	章魚, 八爪魚
	Dongguan	章魚, 八爪魚
	Nanning	八爪魚
Hakka	Meixian	章魚, 八帶魚
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	章魚
Southern Min	Xiamen	章魚
	Dongshan	猴水
	Tainan	章魚, 咃鰸
	Penang (Hokkien)	豬母酸
	Singapore (Hokkien)	墨斗魚
Puxian Min	Putian	章魚
Wu	Shanghai	烏賊魚, 章魚
	Ningbo	望潮
	Ningbo (Zhenhai)	望潮
	Wenzhou	章魚

Japanese

Kanji

蛸

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. octopus

Readings

• Go-on: しょう (shō)^{←せう (seu, historical)}
• Kan-on: しょう (shō)^{←せう (seu, historical)}、そう (sō)^{←さう (sau, historical)}
• Kun: たこ (tako, 蛸)

Compounds

• 螵蛸(おおじがふぐり) (ōjigafuguri)
• 螵蛸(ひょうしょう) (hyōshō)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
蛸
たこ Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
章魚 鮹 鱆

蛸(tako)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

There are multiple theories regarding the origin of this word, but they tend to agree in interpreting the initial ta- as the 被(ひ)覆(ふく)形(けい) (hifukukei, “bound form”) of 手(て) (te, “hand; arm”). The -ko may be the same as in 海鼠(こ) (ko, the historical name for "sea cucumber"), as both are soft-bodied marine organisms. Related terms could then be interpreted as 煎海鼠(いりこ) (iriko, “ko eaten after being boiled and dried”), 海鼠(なまこ) (namako, “ko still raw”), 蛸(たこ) (tako, “many-armed ko”). Speculatively, the -ko element may instead be a diminutive suffix, commonly written as 子(こ) (-ko), related to 小(こ) (ko).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ta̠ko̞]
• (Tokyo) たこ [táꜜkò] (Atamadaka – [1])

Noun

蛸(たこ) • (tako) 

1. octopus

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 タコ (tako).

Derived terms

• 蛸足(たこあし) (takoashi)
• 蛸烏賊(たこいか) (takoika)
• 蛸鉤(たこかぎ) (takokagi)
• 蛸水母(たこくらげ) (takokurage)
• 蛸頭巾(たこずきん) (takozukin)
• 蛸突(たこつ)き (takotsuki)
• 蛸壷(たこつぼ) (takotsubo): octopus pot; foxhole
• 蛸釣(たこつ)り (takotsuri)
• 蛸胴突(たこどうつ)き (takodōtsuki)
• 蛸入道(たこにゅうどう) (takonyūdō)
• 蛸(たこ)の足(あし) (tako no ashi)
• 蛸(たこ)の木(き) (tako no ki)
• 蛸(たこ)の共食(ともぐ)い (tako no tomogui)
• 蛸(たこ)の枕(まくら) (tako no makura)
• 蛸配当(たこはいとう) (takohaitō)
• 蛸引(たこひ)き (takohiki)
• 蛸船(たこぶね) (takobune)
• 蛸部屋(たこべや) (takobeya)
• 蛸坊主(たこぼうず) (takobōzu)
• 蛸焼(たこや)き (takoyaki): takoyaki
• 蛸薬師(たこやくし) (takoyakushi)
• 飯蛸(いいだこ) (īdako)
• 貝蛸(かいだこ) (kaidako)
• 水母蛸(くらげだこ) (kuragedako)
• 蝙蝠蛸(こうもりだこ) (kōmoridako)
• 酢蛸(すだこ) (sudako)
• 手長蛸(てながだこ) (tenagadako)
• 引(ひ)っ張(ぱ)り蛸(だこ) (hipparidako)
• 豹紋蛸(ひょうもんだこ) (hyōmondako)
• 船蛸(ふねだこ) (funedako)
• 真蛸(まだこ) (madako)
• 水蛸(みずだこ) (mizudako)
• 面蛸(めんだこ) (mendako)
• 茹蛸(ゆでだこ), 茹(ゆ)で蛸(だこ) (yudedako)

Idioms

• 蛸(たこ)の糞(くそ)で頭(あたま)に上(あ)がる (tako no kuso de atama ni agaru)
• 薬鑵(やかん)で茹(ゆ)でた蛸(たこ)のよう (yakan de yudeta tako no yō)

Descendants

• → Hokkien: 咃鰸 (thak-kho͘h)

References

• “^▲蛸”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026

Korean

Hanja

蛸 • (so) (hangeul 소, revised so, McCune–Reischauer so, Yale so)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.