化け猫

Japanese

Kanji in this term
化	猫
ば Grade: 3	ねこ Grade: S
kun'yomi

化け猫: an example of a goblin cat apparition.

Etymology

Compound of 化け (bake, “transformation, taking the form of; monster”, stem of verb 化ける (bakeru, “to transform, to change into something else”)) +‎ 猫 (neko, “cat”).^[1]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) ばけねこ [bàkénékó] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
IPA^(key): [ba̠ke̞ne̞ko̞]

Noun

化(ば)け猫(ねこ) • (bakeneko)

(Japanese mythology) a monster cat; a goblin cat; a cat with magical powers
In Japanese folklore, this entity was believed to be a magical cat, sometimes capable of transforming itself into a person or various other forms.

References

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

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]

化け猫

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