天道虫

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See also: 天道蟲

Japanese

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Kanji in this term
てん
Grade: 1
とう
Grade: 2
むし
Grade: 1
kan'on kun'yomi
Alternative spellings
天道蟲 (kyūjitai)
てんとう虫
瓢虫
紅娘
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天道虫 (tentō mushi): a ladybug or ladybird.

Etymology

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Compound of 天道 (tentō, celestial path; the sun) +‎ (mushi, bug).

There are various theories for the derivation. These include:

Derived species names are generally suffixed with -tentō.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(てん)(とう)(むし) or 天道虫(テントウムシ) (tentō mushiてんたうむし (tentaumusi) or テンタウムシ (tentaumusi)?

  1. a ladybird (UK), ladybug (US), lady beetle (any beetle of family Coccinellidae)
    Hypernym: 甲虫 (kōchū)
  2. Synonym of 並瓢虫 (namitentō): an Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis

Usage notes

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As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as テントウムシ.

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Further reading

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