猫

Translingual[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Simplified from 貓 (豸 → 犭)

In the current form, semantic 犭 (“small animal [originally meaning dog]”) + phonetic 苗

Han character[edit]

猫 (radical 94 犬+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 大竹廿田 (KHTW), composition ⿰犭苗)

References[edit]

• KangXi: page 714, character 27
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20535
• Dae Jaweon: page 1127, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1352, character 1
• Unihan data for U+732B

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Chinese[edit]

simpl.		猫
trad.		貓

Pronunciation[edit]

[Expand]

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): māo (mao¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄠ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): maau¹
• Hakka (Pha̍k-fa-sṳ): meu
• Min Nan (POJ): bâ / niau
• Wu (WT Romanisation): mau (T3); miau (T3)

Noun[edit]

猫

猫 (classifier 只)

1. (Beginning Mandarin) cat

Compounds[edit]

[show ▼]Derivations

See also[edit]

• 喵 (miāo) meow, the onomatopoeic cry of a cat

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Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

See also:

Category:Japanese terms spelled with 猫

猫

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 貓)

Readings[edit]

• Goon: みょう (myō), (historical) めう (meu)
• Kan’on: びょう (byō), (historical) べう (beu)
• Kun: ねこ (neko)

Etymology 1[edit]

Kanji in this term

猫

ねこ Grade: S

kun'yomi

From Old Japanese. /*ni₁a-ko₁ma/ > /ne₁ko₁ma/ > /neko/

Shortened from nekoma: see below.

Pronunciation[edit]

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ne̞.ꜜko̞]

Noun[edit]

猫

猫 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 貓, counter 匹, hiragana ねこ, katakana ネコ, romaji neko)

1. a cat  [quotations ▼]

Derived terms[edit]

• 子猫, 仔猫 (こねこ, koneko): a kitten
• 黒猫 (くろねこ, クロネコ, kuro neko): a black cat
• シュレーディンガーの猫 (シュレーディンガーのねこ, Shurēdingā no neko): Schrödinger's cat
• 猫手 (ねこて, nekote)
• 唐猫
• 化け猫
• 招き猫
• 猫かぶり
• とらねこ
• どらねこ
• やまねこ
• 猫かわいがり

Idioms[edit]

• 猫も杓子も
• 猫の手も借りたい
• 猫舌
• 猫に小判
• 猫の額
• 借りてきた猫

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Japanese. /*ni₁a-ko₁ma/ > /ne₁ko₁ma/

Originally a compound of にゃ (nya, “onomatopoeia for the sound a cat makes (compare English mew)”) +‎ こま (koma, “four-legged animal”).

Obsolete; replaced by shorter form neko in modern Japanese.

Pronunciation[edit]

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ne̞.ko̞.mä]

Noun[edit]

猫 (hiragana ねこま, romaji nekoma)

1. (obsolete) a cat  [quotations ▼]

References[edit]

• 1968 January 4 [931-938], Shitagō Minamoto; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu, Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, ISBN 4-653-00507-9:

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Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

猫 (myo) (hangeul 묘, McCune-Reischauer myo, Yale myo)

1. (고양이 묘, goyang-i): cat