문어

Korean

Etymology 1

Etymology unclear. Possibly from 민- (min-, “bare; unadorned”, prefix) +‎ 어(魚) (eo, “fish”, Sino-Korean morpheme). Later transliterated to 文魚 (literally “literary fish”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [munʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [무너]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	muneo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	mun'eo
McCune–Reischauer?	munŏ
Yale Romanization?	mun.e

Noun

문어 • (muneo) (hanja 文魚)

1. (zoology) octopus
2. The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini).

   Synonyms: 대왕문어 (daewangmuneo), 큰태평양문어 (keuntaepyeong'yangmuneo), 대문어 (daemuneo), 대팔초어 (daepalcho'eo), 물낙지 (mullakji)

Derived terms

• 문어과(文魚科) (muneogwa)
• 문어목(文魚目) (muneomok)
• 보라문어 (boramuneo)
• 우무문어 (umumuneo)
• 참문어 (chammuneo)
• 파란고리문어 (paran'gorimuneo)

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 文語.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [munʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [무너]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	muneo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	mun'eo
McCune–Reischauer?	munŏ
Yale Romanization?	mun.e

Noun

문어 • (muneo) (hanja 文語)

1. written language; literary language

   Antonym: 구어(口語) (gueo)

Derived terms

• 문어문(文語文) (muneomun)
• 문어체(文語體) (muneoche)

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 問語.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈmu(ː)nʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [무(ː)너]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	muneo
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	mun'eo
McCune–Reischauer?	munŏ
Yale Romanization?	mūn.e

Noun

문어 • (muneo) (hanja 問語)

1. (military) sign (challenge)

   Coordinate term: 답어(答語) (dabeo, “countersign”)