天草

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty
trad. (天草)		天	草
simp. #(天草)		天	草

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 天草 (Amakusa).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Tiāncǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄘㄠˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Tiāncǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄘㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Tiancǎo
    • Wade–Giles: Tʻien¹-tsʻao³
    • Yale: Tyān-tsǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Tiantsao
    • Palladius: Тяньцао (Tjanʹcao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Proper noun

天草

1. (～市) Amakusa (a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
天	草
あま Grade: 1	くさ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Compound of 天 (ama, “heavens”) +‎ 草 (kusa, “grass, plant”).

The surname likely comes from the place name, the derivation of which is uncertain. Theories include:

• Named for the 海人 (ama, “sea people”) 草 (kusa, “tribe”) that lived in the archipelago in the region, as reported in the Nihon Shoki (720 CE)
• Named for the 甘草 (kanzō, “licorice”, literally “sweet grass”, alternative reading amakusa) harvested in the area
• Shift from 馬草 (makusa, umakusa, literally “horse grass”) from grazing areas in the region

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) あまくさ [àmáꜜkùsà] (Nakadaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [a̠ma̠kɯ̟sa̠]

Proper noun

天(あま)草(くさ) • (Amakusa) 

1. Amakusa (a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan)
2. a rare surname

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
天	草
てん Grade: 1	くさ > ぐさ Grade: 1
jūbakoyomi

Compound of 天 (ten, “heavens”) +‎ 草 (kusa, “grass, plant”). The kusa changes to gusa as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Uses the on'yomi of ten for the 天 character.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てんぐさ [tèńgúsá] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞ŋɡɯ̟sa̠]

Noun

天(てん)草(ぐさ) or 天草(テングサ) • (tengusa) 

1. any of the red algae of the genus Gelidium

   Synonym: 心太 (tokoroten)

2. agar

Usage notes

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

See also

• 寒天(かんてん) (kanten)
• 心太(ところてん) (tokoroten)

Further reading

• Etymology at Nihonjiten (in Japanese)