家鴨

See also: 家鸭

Chinese
 
home; family; ‑ist; ‑er; ‑ian; measure word for stores and schools
 duck
trad. (家鴨) 家 鴨
simp. (家鸭) 家 鸭

Pronunciation

Noun

家鴨

  1. domestic duck (the domesticated variety of mallard)

Japanese
家鴨 (ahiru): a domestic duck.

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
家 鴨
Grade: 2 Jinmeiyō
Irregular

Appears in texts from the late Muromachi period. Various theories exist regarding the derivation; one of the more common derives this as a sound shift from ahiro, appearing around the same time as a compound of 足 (a, “foot, feet”) +‎ 広 (hiro, stem of adjective 広い (hiroi, “broad, wide”)).

The kanji spelling is jukujikun (熟字訓), from Chinese 家鴨.

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Alternative forms

Noun

家鴨 (counter 羽, hiragana あひる, katakana アヒル, rōmaji ahiru)

  1. a domestic duck (a domesticated variety of mallard)
    アヒルの子 (こ)
    ahiru no ko
    a baby duck, a duckling
  2. (slang, often derogatory) a woman who is short and has a large butt
  3. an academic grade of “B” (from the way the 乙 (otsu) character, used to indicate this grade, looks vaguely like a duck)
  4. (military) an amphibious truck (from the English duck)
Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts, as アヒル.

Derived terms
Derived terms
  • 家鴨 (あひる)下 (げ)駄 (た) (ahiru geta): literally, “duck clogs”: a style of 下駄 (geta, “traditional wooden clogs”) with short “teeth” (the wooden supports underneath) and a short distance between the “teeth”, so named for the way it makes the wearer walk
Idioms
Idioms
  • 家鴨 (あひる)が文 (ぶん)庫 (こ)を背 (せ)負 (お)う (ahiru ga bunko o seō): “a duck carries a collection of books” → metaphor for the appearance of a short woman with a large butt, walking along
  • 家鴨 (あひる)の火 (か)事 (じ)見 (み)舞 (ま)い (ahiru no kajimimai)" “a duck going to visit someone after a fire” → a metaphor for a short, unattractive woman with a large butt, walking quickly
  • 家鴨 (あひる)の脚 (きゃ)絆 (はん) (ahiru no kyahan): “(like) a duck's gaiters” → metaphor for something unsuited to someone's nature
  • 家鴨 (あひる)も鴨 (かも)の気 (き)位 (ぐらい) (ahiru mo kamo no kigurai): “the domestic duck is also as proud as the wild duck” → a metaphor for putting on airs, from the general sense that a domestic duck is not as pretty as a wild duck

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
家 鴨
か
Grade: 2		 おう
Jinmeiyō
on’yomi

*/ka apu/ → /kaafu/ → */kaawu/ → /kaau/ → /kaɔː/ → /kaoː/

From Middle Chinese 家鴨 (MC kˠa ʔˠap̚).

Pronunciation

Noun

家鴨 (hiragana かおう, rōmaji kaō, historical hiragana かあふ)

  1. a domestic duck

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Further reading
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.