法螺貝

Japanese
法螺貝 (horagai): a horn made from a Charonia tritonis shell.
Kanji in this term
法 螺 貝
ほう > ほ
Grade: 4		 ら
Jinmeiyō		 かい > がい
Grade: 1
Irregular kun’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 法螺 (hora, “boasting, bragging”) +‎ 貝 (kai, “shell, shellfish”).[1][2] The kai changes to gai as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Noun

法螺貝 (hiragana ほらがい, katakana ホラガイ, rōmaji horagai)

  1. a Triton's trumpet, Charonia tritonis
  2. a horn made from a Triton's trumpet shell
  3. by metaphor from the shape of the shell, a way of tying a man's obi

Usage notes

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

See also

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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