天道虫

See also: 天道蟲

Japanese

Kanji in this term
天	道	虫
てん Grade: 1	とう Grade: 2	むし Grade: 1
kan'on		kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
天道蟲 (kyūjitai) てんとう虫 瓢虫 紅娘

天道虫 (tentō mushi): a ladybug or ladybird.

Etymology

Compound of 天道 (tentō, “celestial path; the sun”) +‎ 虫 (mushi, “bug”).

There are various theories for the derivation. These include:

• So called because the insects fly upward towards the sun.
• So called for their habit of landing on branches and orienting upwards, towards the sky.

Derived species names are generally suffixed with -tentō.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てんとーむし [tèńtóꜜò mùshì] (Nakadaka – [3])
• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞nto̞ː mɯ̟ɕi]

Noun

天(てん)道(とう)虫(むし) or 天道虫(テントウムシ) • (tentō mushi) ^{←てんたうむし (tentaumusi) or テンタウムシ (tentaumusi)?}

1. a ladybird (UK), ladybug (US), lady beetle (any beetle of family Coccinellidae)

   Hypernym: 甲虫 (kōchū)

2. Synonym of 並瓢虫 (namitentō): an Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis

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 テントウムシ.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 偽瓢虫(てんとうむしだまし) (tentō mushi damashi)
• 赤(あか)星(ぼし)瓢虫(てんとう) (akaboshi tentō, “Chilocorus rubidus”)
• 七(なな)星(ほし)瓢虫(てんとう) (nanahoshi tentō)
• 並(なみ)瓢虫(てんとう) (nami tentō)
• 二(に)十(じゅう)八(はち)星(ほし)瓢虫(てんとう) (nijūhachihoshi tentō, “Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata”)

Further reading

• Etymology at Nihonjiten (in Japanese)