瑠璃

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 瑠璃 – see 琉璃 (“a kind of blue and translucent natural precious stone, probably lapis lazuli; etc.”). (This term is a variant form of 琉璃).

Japanese

Kanji in this term
瑠	璃
る Grade: S	り Grade: S
goon	on'yomi

Alternative spelling
琉璃

瑠璃 on Japanese Wikipedia

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Lapis lazuli

Wikipedia

瑠璃: a lapis lazuli carving from Qing Dynasty China

Etymology

Shortened from 吠(べい)瑠(る)璃(り) (beiruri), itself from Middle Chinese 吠瑠璃 (MC bjojH lje), a phonetic transcription of Sanskrit वैडूर्य (vaiḍūrya, “cat's eye, beryl”).^[1]^[2] Some scholars suggest that the source term might instead have been Pali veḷuriya (“precious stone, maybe lapis lazuli”).^[3]^[4]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) るり [rùrí] (Heiban – [0])^[5]
(Tokyo) るり [rúꜜrì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[5]^[2]
IPA^(key): [ɾɯ̟ɾʲi]

Noun

瑠(る)璃(り) • (ruri)

lapis lazuli
the deep blue color of lapis lazuli: azure
common name for various blue thrushes (birds) in family Muscicapidae, such as the 大瑠璃 (ōruri, “blue and white flycatcher, Cyanoptila cyanomelana”) or 小瑠璃 (koruri, “Siberian blue robin, Larvivora cyane, syn. Luscinia cyane”)
(mineralogy, geology) lazurite
Synonym: 青金石 (seikinseki) (more specific)

Derived terms

瑠(る)璃(り)色(いろ) (rurīro): azure blue
瑠(る)璃(り)貝(がい) (rurigai): pelagic marine snails of genus Janthina
瑠(る)璃(り)懸(かけ)巣(す) (ruri kakesu): a jaybird, Lidth's jay (Garrulus lidthi)
瑠(る)璃(り)瓦(がわら) (rurigawara): a kawara tile with a glossy blue glaze, commonly used in roofing in Japan
瑠(る)璃(り)観(かん)音(のん) (Ruri Kannon): one of the 33 manifestations of Kannon (観音), the Buddha or goddess of mercy, depicted standing on a lotus leaf floating in the water, with incense in her right hand and a lotus blossom in her left hand
瑠(る)璃(り)釉(ぐすり) (rurigusuri): a slip containing powdered cobalt and applied to ceramics to achieve a deep blue color after firing
瑠(る)璃(り)光(こう)如(にょ)来(らい) (Rurikō Nyorai): another name for 薬師如来 (Yakushi Nyorai), the medicine Buddha
瑠(る)璃(り)紺(こん) (ruri kon): a deep blue and glossy piece of lapis lazuli; a deep blue color, the color of lapis lazuli
瑠(る)璃小灰蝶(りしじみ) (ruri shijimi): holly blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus)
瑠(る)璃草(りそう) (ruri sō): navelwort: a flowering plant of genus Omphalodes in family Boraginaceae, native to the mountainous regions of Honshū and Hokkaidō; alternate name for related plant 蛍葛 (hotaru kazura) (Lithospermum zollingeri)
瑠(る)璃(り)蛺(たては) (ruri tateha): blue admiral butterfly (Kaniska canace)
瑠璃萵苣(るりぢしゃ) (ruri-jisha)
瑠(る)璃(り)鳥(ちょう) (ruri chō): Taiwan whistling thrush or Formosan whistling thrush (Myophonus insularis)
瑠(る)璃(り)灯(とう) (ruri tō): a kind of hexagonal lamp used in the Ōbaku sect of Zen, covered in thin silk and containing a candela made of lapis lazuli, and hung in the main hall of temples
瑠(る)璃(り)虎(とら)の尾(お) (ruri tora no o): “azure tiger's tail” (Veronica subsessilis)
瑠璃野路子(ルリノジコ) (ruri nojiko)
瑠(る)璃(り)繁縷(はこべ) (ruri hakobe): poor man's weatherglass (Lysimachia foemina, syn. Anagallis foemina), a low-growing herbaceous annual plant
瑠(る)璃(り)鶲(びたき) (ruribitaki): red-flanked bluetail, orange-flanked bush-robin, or Siberian bluechat (Tarsiger cyanurus)
瑠(る)璃(り)溝(みぞ)隠(かくし) (ruri mizokakushi): a flowering herbaceous perennial plant, the edging lobelia, garden lobelia or trailing lobelia (Lobelia erinus)
瑠(る)璃(り)実(み)の樹(き) (ruri mi no ki): an evergreen shrub of genus Lasianthus, native to the Izu Peninsula
瑠(る)璃(り)ムスカリ (ruri musukari): azure muscari, a perennial bulbous plants native to Eurasia, of genus Muscari
瑠(る)璃(り)柳(やなぎ) (ruri yanagi): waxy-leaf nightshade, a flowering shrub (Solanum glaucophyllum, syn. of Solanum melanoxylon)
大(オオ)瑠璃(ルリ) (ōruri)
小瑠璃(コルリ) (koruri)

Idioms

瑠(る)璃(り)の光(ひかり)も磨(みが)きがら (ruri no hikari mo migakigara): “lapis lazuli's shine is brought out by polishing” → inborn talent is no substitute for hard work and practice
瑠(る)璃(り)も玻(は)璃(り)も照(て)らせば光(ひ)かる (ruri mo hari mo teraseba hikaru): “lazuli and crystal sparkle when you shine a light on them” → even if two things are different, illumination can make their excellent qualities clear
瑠(る)璃(り)も玻(は)璃(り)も照(て)らせば分(わ)かる (ruri mo hari mo teraseba wakaru): “you can tell lazuli and crystal by shining a light on them” → the true nature of similar things can be discerned by different means or in different situations
瑠(る)璃(り)は脆(もろ)し (ruri wa moroshi): “lazuli is fragile” → a metaphor for the fragility of beautiful things
瑠(る)璃(り)も曇(くも)る (ruri mo kumoru): “even lazuli gets cloudy” → a metaphor for how even the most excellent things lose value over time

Proper noun

瑠(る)璃(り) • (Ruri)

a female given name

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
^ 1985, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, Edward H Schafer, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 398 pp.
^ 1917, Field Museum of Natural History: 1909, “The Beginnings of Porcelain in China”, Berthold Laufer and Henry Windsor Nichols, The Museum, p138:
The glassy paste for the production of ceramic glazes was called liu-li 琉璃 (in the Han Annals 流離) or p'i-liu-li, derived from Prākrit veluriya, Mahārāshṭrī verulia (Sanskrit vaiḍūrya).
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →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] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[3] 1985, The Golden Peaches of Samarkand, Edward H Schafer, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 398 pp.

[4] 1917, Field Museum of Natural History: 1909, “The Beginnings of Porcelain in China”, Berthold Laufer and Henry Windsor Nichols, The Museum, p138:
The glassy paste for the production of ceramic glazes was called liu-li 琉璃 (in the Han Annals 流離) or p'i-liu-li, derived from Prākrit veluriya, Mahārāshṭrī verulia (Sanskrit vaiḍūrya).

[NHK-5] 5.0 ^5.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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