ぼら

Japanese
Alternative spellings
鰡
鯔

Etymology

Unknown. Japanese dictionaries do not indicate when this term first appears in text.[1][2][3][4]

Monolingual sources speculate that this may be from some element ho ("fat") + 腹 (hara, “belly”),[5][6] but there is no solid evidence for any ho element with this meaning; the closest by sound is 頬 (ho, “cheek”, from ancient popo), and the closest by meaning is 太 (futo, “fatness”, from ancient puto).

The same fish name has suggestive overlap with Sahidic Coptic ⲃⲱⲣⲉ (bōre), Bohairic Coptic ⲫⲟⲣⲓ (phori) and ϥⲟⲣⲓ (fori), whence its modern Arabic name بُورِي‎ (būrī).

Pronunciation

Noun

ぼら or ボラ • (bora) ←ぼら (bora)?

  1. flathead mullet, Mugil cephalus

Usage notes
  • As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary).
  • This fish has different names (出世魚) depending on regional dialect and the size of the fish. See 鯔. For a fuller list, see ボラ#別名 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ja (in Japanese).

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  5. Entry at Gogen-Allguide (in Japanese)
  6. Entry at Nihon Jiten (in Japanese)
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