須佐之男

Japanese

Kanji in this term
須	佐	之	男
す Grade: S	さ Grade: 4	の Jinmeiyō	お Grade: 1
goon		kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
須佐能乎 素戔嗚

須佐之男 (Susanoo): a scene from a 神楽 (kagura) play where Susanoo slays Orochi, the eight-headed serpent.

Etymology

Uncertain, with many possible derivations. One of the more compelling explanations is that this is a compound of すさ (susa, “roughness, wildness”, root word unattested in isolation, but found in terms such as 凄まじい (susamajii, “terrible, dreadful”) or 荒む (susamu, “to be wild, to be savage”)) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 男 (o, “man”). In this case, 須佐 (Susa) would be ateji (当(あ)て字(じ)).

Another theory is that this may be a compound of 須佐 (Susa, name of a place in Japan, where the god is supposed to have first touched earth) +‎ の (no, possessive particle) +‎ 男 (o, “man”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) すさのお [sùsánóꜜò] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [sɨ̥sa̠no̞o̞]

Proper noun

須(す)佐(さ)之(の)男(お) or 須佐之男(スサノオ) • (Susanoo) ^{←すさのを (Susanowo)?}

1. (Shinto, Japanese mythology) Susanoo, the Japanese god of storms
2. (poetic) a storm

Related terms

• 伊邪那岐(いざなぎ) (Izanagi)
• 伊邪那美(いざなみ) (Izanami)
• 天照(あまてらす) (Amaterasu)
• 月読(つくよみ) (Tsukuyomi)