えびす

Japanese

For pronunciation and definitions of えびす – see the following entries.

【恵比須】 [proper noun] (Shinto, Japanese mythology) Ebisu, the Japanese god of fishermen, commerce and merchants, and workingmen, as well as the guardian of the health and well-being of small children Alternative spellings 恵比寿, 夷, 戎, 蛭子, ゑびす

【夷】J [noun] (historical) Synonym of 蝦夷 (Ezo): an ancient ethnic group attested in the Nihon Shoki that once lived on what is now the Kantō, Hokuriku and Tōhoku regions, likely as far as Hokkaido, possibly related to the Ainu people; dubbed "barbarians" or "savages" by the Yamato. [noun] a person living far away from the 都 (miyako, “capital”), loosely translated to "bumpkin" or "hick" [noun] (regional, derogatory) a barbarian, savage, especially referring to the 東夷 (azuma-ebisu, “warrior from the eastern parts of Japan”) [noun] (by extension, derogatory) a foreigner [proper noun] a surname Alternative spelling 戎

(This term, えびす (ebisu), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as えびす, see Category:Japanese kanji read as えびす.)