飴棒

Japanese

Kanji in this term
飴	棒
あめ > あめん Hyōgai	ぼう > ぼ Grade: 6
irregular

Alternative spellings
飴坊 水黽 水馬

Etymology

Perhaps from 飴ん棒 (amenbō, “lollipop”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あめんぼ [àméńbó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [a̠mẽ̞mbo̞]

Noun

飴(あめん)棒(ぼ) or 飴棒(アメンボ) • (amenbo) 

1. a water strider

   Synonyms: 川蜘蛛 (“kawa-gumo”), 水馬 (“suiba”), 水澄まし (“mizu-sumashi”)

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).