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Rat in Chinese / Japanese...
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Rat / Mouse
Year of the Rat / Zodiac Sign
鼠 is the character for rat (and sometimes mouse) in Chinese, old Korean, and Japanese.
If you were born in the year of the Rat, you . . .
Are sensitive and smart.
Easily adapting to new environments.
Have a curious nature.
Are good at using the opportunities that are presented to you.
In some contexts, this character could mean “mouse.”
See also our Chinese Zodiac page.
Water Rat
This means Water Rat in Chinese.
As a year designator, written 壬子 for 1912, 1972, or 2032.
Opossum / Possum
負鼠 is the name for Opossum (aphesis spelling: Possum) in Chinese.
The first character means “carries” and refers to the marsupial pouch. The second character means “rat.” You could say the literal translation is “marsupial rat.”
Chinese opossums vary from the North American variety. Using the two characters shown here may suggest the species native to China.
See Also: Year of the Rat
North American Opossum / Possum
北美負鼠 is the full title for North American Opossum (aphesis spelling: Possum). The first two characters mean “North American” as an adjective. The third character means “carries” and refers to the marsupial pouch. The last character means “rat.” You could say the literal translation is “marsupial rat.”
Chinese opossums vary from the North American variety. If you were to use the last two characters alone, it may suggest the species native to China.
See Also: Year of the Rat
Not the results for Rat that you were looking for?
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your Rat search...
| Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
賴 赖 see styles |
lài lai4 lai rai |
More info & calligraphy: RheiTo rely upon, depend on; throw the burden on, repudiate. |
鼠 see styles |
shǔ shu3 shu nezumi(p); nezumi(p) ねずみ(P); ネズミ(P) |
More info & calligraphy: Rat / Mouse(1) (kana only) mouse; rat; (2) (abbreviation) (See ねずみ色) dark gray; slate gray muṣa; ākhu; a mouse, rat. |
子 see styles |
zi zi5 tzu nene ねね |
(noun suffix) (1) the Rat (first sign of the Chinese zodiac); (2) (obsolete) (See 子の刻) hour of the Rat (around midnight, 11pm to 1am, or 12 midnight to 2am); (3) (obsolete) north; (4) (obsolete) eleventh month of the lunar calendar; (personal name) Nene kumāra; son; seed; sir; 11-1 midnight. |
鼕 冬 see styles |
dōng dong1 tung |
(onom.) beating a drum; rat-a-tat See: 冬 |
鼭 see styles |
shí shi2 shih |
a kind of rat |
丙子 see styles |
bǐng zǐ bing3 zi3 ping tzu hinoene; heishi / hinoene; heshi ひのえね; へいし |
thirteenth year C1 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1996 or 2056 (See 干支・1) Fire Rat (13th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1936, 1996, 2056) |
內卷 内卷 see styles |
nèi juǎn nei4 juan3 nei chüan |
(embryology) to involute; involution; (neologism c. 2017) (of a society) to become more and more of a rat race; to become increasingly competitive (due to limited resources) |
內鬼 内鬼 see styles |
nèi guǐ nei4 gui3 nei kuei |
mole; spy; rat; traitor |
初子 see styles |
hatsune はつね |
(1) first Day of the Rat of the New Year; (2) first Day of the Rat of the month (esp. of the 11th month); (female given name) Hatsune |
刺鼠 see styles |
togenezumi とげねずみ |
(kana only) Ryukyu spiny rat (Tokudaia osimensis) |
嚙齒 啮齿 see styles |
niè chǐ nie4 chi3 nieh ch`ih nieh chih |
a rodent (rat, rabbit etc) |
地潜 see styles |
jimuguri じむぐり |
(kana only) Japanese forest rat snake (Euprepiophis conspicillatus, Elaphe conspicillata); burrowing rat snake |
壬子 see styles |
rén zǐ ren2 zi3 jen tzu yoshiko よしこ |
forty-ninth year I1 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 1972 or 2032 (See 干支・1) Water Rat (49th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1912, 1972, 2032); (female given name) Yoshiko |
大鼠 see styles |
dà shǔ da4 shu3 ta shu |
rat |
子年 see styles |
nedoshi; nezumidoshi ねどし; ねずみどし |
year of the rat |
子忌 see styles |
neimi / nemi ねいみ |
(obscure) collecting herbs and pulling out young pine trees by the roots (annual event held on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year) |
子鼠 see styles |
zǐ shǔ zi3 shu3 tzu shu |
Year 1, year of the Rat (e.g. 2008) |
庚子 see styles |
gēng zǐ geng1 zi3 keng tzu yasuko やすこ |
37th year G1 of the 60-year cycle, e.g. 1960 or 2020 (See 干支・1) Metal Rat (37th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1960, 2020, 2080); (female given name) Yasuko |
徒者 see styles |
tadamono ただもの itazuramono いたずらもの |
ordinary person (usu. in neg. sentences); (1) mischief-maker; trickster; prankster; (2) (archaism) lascivious person (esp. a loose woman); (3) (archaism) useless fellow; (4) (archaism) mouse; rat |
戊子 see styles |
wù zǐ wu4 zi3 wu tzu boshi ぼし |
twenty-fifth year E1 of the 60 year cycle, e.g. 2008 or 2068 (See 干支・1) Earth Rat (25th term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1948, 2008, 2068); (given name) Boshi |
月鼠 see styles |
yuè shǔ yue4 shu3 yüeh shu tsuki no nezumi |
The moon rat, one of the two rats, black and white, that gnaw the cord of life, i. e. night and day. |
棘鼠 see styles |
togenezumi とげねずみ |
(kana only) Ryukyu spiny rat (Tokudaia osimensis) |
溝鼠 see styles |
dobunezumi どぶねずみ |
(1) (kana only) brown rat (Rattus norvegicus); common rat; Norway rat; (2) dark grey (colour, color); dark gray; (3) secret evil-doer |
火鼠 see styles |
hinezumi; kaso ひねずみ; かそ |
More info & calligraphy: Fire Rat |
熊鼠 see styles |
kumanezumi; kumanezumi くまねずみ; クマネズミ |
(kana only) black rat (Rattus rattus); roof rat |
玉帚 see styles |
tamabahaki たまばはき tamahahaki たまははき |
(1) broom (esp. one for sweeping a silkworm-raising room on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year); (2) plant used for constructing brooms (e.g. kochia); (3) liquor; alcohol; sake |
玉箒 see styles |
tamabahaki たまばはき tamahahaki たまははき |
(1) broom (esp. one for sweeping a silkworm-raising room on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year); (2) plant used for constructing brooms (e.g. kochia); (3) liquor; alcohol; sake |
甲子 see styles |
jiǎ zǐ jia3 zi3 chia tzu takako たかこ |
first year of the sixty-year cycle (where each year is numbered with one of the 10 heavenly stems 天干[tian1 gan1] and one of the 12 earthly branches 地支[di4 zhi1]); the sixty-year cycle (See 干支・1) Wood Rat (1st term of the sexagenary cycle, e.g. 1924, 1984, 2044); (female given name) Takako |
白蛇 see styles |
shirohebi; hakuja しろへび; はくじゃ |
(See 青大将) albino Japanese rat snake |
白鼠 see styles |
shironezumi しろねずみ |
white rat or mouse |
Click here for more Rat results from our dictionary
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Rat Mouse | 鼠 | nezumi | shǔ / shu3 / shu | |
| Water Rat | 水鼠 | shuǐ shǔ / shui3 shu3 / shui shu / shuishu | ||
| Opossum Possum | 負鼠 负鼠 | fù shǔ / fu4 shu3 / fu shu / fushu | ||
| North American Opossum Possum | 北美負鼠 北美负鼠 | běi měi fù shǔ bei3 mei3 fu4 shu3 bei mei fu shu beimeifushu | pei mei fu shu peimeifushu |
|
| In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. | ||||
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