蜉蝣

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “looks like there's some sort of reduplication”)

蜉蝣

1. mayfly

   • 蜉蝣之羽、衣裳楚楚。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Fúyóu zhī yǔ, yīshang chǔchǔ. [Pinyin]

     The wings of the ephemera, are robes, bright and splendid.

   • 飲而不食者，蟬也；不飲不食者，蜉蝣也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     饮而不食者，蝉也；不饮不食者，蜉蝣也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

     Yǐn ér bùshí zhě, chán yě; bùyǐn bùshí zhě, fúyóu yě. [Pinyin]

     That which drinks but does not eat is the cicada. That which neither drinks nor eats is the mayfly.

Change in meaning from 陽炎 (kagerō, “heat haze, heat shimmer”), from the way that the insects fly in swarms that visually resemble heat haze.[1] The kanji is jukujikun (熟字訓), from Chinese 蜉蝣 (fúyóu).

• (Tokyo) かげ​ろー [kàgéꜜròò] (Nakadaka – [2])[2][3]
• (Tokyo) かげろー [kàgéróó] (Heiban – [0])[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ka̠ɡe̞ɾo̞ː]

蜉蝣(かげろう) • (kagerō) ^{←かげろふ (kagerofu)?}

1. a mayfly
2. (obsolete) Synonym of 蜻蛉 (tonbo, “dragonfly”)

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

Change in meaning from 陽炎 (kagirō, “heat haze, heat shimmer”), from the way that the insects fly in swarms that visually resemble heat haze.[1]

Obsolete reading.

蜉蝣(かぎろう) • (kagirō) ^{←かぎろふ (kagirofu)?}

1. (obsolete) Synonym of 蜻蛉 (tonbo, “dragonfly”)

From Middle Chinese 蜉蝣 (bjuw yuw?). Compare Mandarin 蜉蝣 (fúyóu), Vietnamese phù du.

• (Tokyo) ふゆう [fùyúú] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• (Tokyo) ふ​ゆう [fúꜜyùù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟ᵝjɯ̟ᵝː]

蜉(ふ)蝣(ゆう) • (fuyū) ^{←ふいう (fuiu)?}

1. a mayfly
2. (by extension) ephemerality (from the way that mayflies are born and die within a day)

蜉蝣

1. chữ Hán form of phù du (“mayfly”).

蜉蝣

1. chữ Hán form of phù du (“ephemeral”).