猟虎

Japanese

Kanji in this term
猟	虎
りょう > らっ Grade: S (ateji)	こ Grade: S (ateji)

Alternative spellings
獵虎 (kyūjitai) 獺虎海獺

Etymology

From Ainu ラッコ (rakko). The kanji, which is a compound of 猟 (ryō, “hunting”) +‎ 虎 (ko, “tiger”), is ateji (当て字).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) らっこ [ràkkó] (Heiban – [0])
(Tokyo) らっこ [ráꜜkkò] (Atamadaka – [1])
IPA^(key): [ɾa̠k̚ko̞]

Noun

猟(らっ)虎(こ) or 猟虎(ラッコ) • (rakko)

a sea otter

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 ラッコ (rakko).