虫眼鏡

Japanese

Kanji in this term
虫	眼	鏡
むし Grade: 1	め Grade: 5	かね > がね Grade: 4
kun'yomi		nanori

Alternative spellings
蟲眼鏡 (kyūjitai) 虫メガネ

Etymology

Compound of 虫 (mushi, “bug, insect”) +‎ 眼鏡 (megane, “eyeglass[es]”).^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) むしめがね [mùshíméꜜgànè] (Nakadaka – [3])^[2]
IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ɕime̞ɡa̠ne̞]

Noun

虫(むし)眼(め)鏡(がね) • (mushi megane)

a magnifying glass
a microscope
(slang, sumo) the lowest rank in major-league sumo, so called because the 力士 (rikishi, “sumo wrestler”) names are displayed at the bottom of the 番付 (banzuke, “sumo rankings list or program”) in a small font, requiring the use of a magnifying glass to read easily

Synonyms

(magnifying glass): 拡(かく)大(だい)鏡(きょう) (kakudaikyō)
(microscope): 顕(けん)微(び)鏡(きょう) (kenbikyō)
(sumo rank): 序(じょ)の口(くち) (jo no kuchi)

See also

眼(め)鏡(がね) (megane): glasses
望(ぼう)遠(えん)鏡(きょう) (bōenkyō): telescope
双(そう)眼(がん)鏡(きょう) (sōgankyō): binoculars
顕(けん)微(び)鏡(きょう) (kenbikyō): microscope
潜(せん)望(ぼう)鏡(きょう) (senbōkyō): periscope
万(まん)華(げ)鏡(きょう) (mangekyō): kaleidoscope
オペラグラス (operagurasu): opera glasses

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN