螺

螺 (Kangxi radical 142, 虫+11, 17 strokes, cangjie input 中戈田女火 (LIWVF), four-corner 5619₃, composition ⿰虫⿱田糸)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1095, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 33512
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2885, character 5
• Unihan data for U+87BA

• Unihan data for U+F911

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *roːl): semantic 虫 + phonetic 累 (OC *ruːls, *rolʔ, *rols).

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kroj (“shellfish, shell”). From the same root derives 蝸 (OC *kroːl, *kʷroːl, “terrestrial snail”).

螺

1. aquatic snail (as opposed to a terrestrial snail, 蝸 / 蜗 (wō))
2. whorl; swirl; spiral
3. fingerprint whorls
4. (organic chemistry) spiro-

   螺內酯／螺内酯  ―  luónèizhǐ  ―  spironolactone

5. (transgender slang) short for 螺內酯／螺内酯 (luónèizhǐ, “spironolactone”); spiro
6. (historical) wine cup made from a snail shell
7. (historical) ink; pigment (green-black in color, produced from the snail, and used by women for drawing eyebrows)
8. short for 螺髻 (“hair done up in a coil shape”)

• (spiro): 補／补 (bǔ, “E”), 色 (sè, “cypro”)

• “螺”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “螺”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long]; 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu]; 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying]; 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019), “螺”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 128.

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. spiral-shaped shellfish

• Go-on: ら (ra)
• Kan-on: ら (ra)
• Kun: つぶ (tsubu, 螺)、つび (tsubi, 螺)、つみ (tsumi, 螺)、にし (nishi, 螺)、にな (nina, 螺)

From Middle Chinese 螺 (lwa, “conch; spiral”).

• (Tokyo) ら [ráꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɾa̠]

螺(ら) • (ra) 

1. any shellfish with a spiral shell

In compounds, may lend meanings of either shell or spiral.

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 粒 (tsubu, “grain; granule, little roundish bit of something”).^[2] May have originally been the standalone form; compare 神 (kamu, bound form, only used in compounds) and 神 (kami, standalone form).

• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨbʲi]

螺(つび) • (tsubi) 

1. (obsolete) spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones
2. (obsolete) synonym of 蛤 (hamaguri, “clam”)

From Old Japanese. Cognate with 粒 (tsubu, “grain; granule, little roundish bit of something”).^[2] May have originally been the combining form; compare 神 (kamu, bound form, only used in compounds) and 神 (kami, standalone form).

• (Tokyo) つぶ [tsúꜜbù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨbɯ̟]

螺(つぶ) or 螺(ツブ) • (tsubu) 

1. spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones
2. edible marine whelks of family Buccinidae
3. synonym of 田螺 (tanishi, “river snails of family Viviparidae”)

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

/t͡subi/ → /t͡sumi/

Shift in pronunciation from tsubi above.

• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨmʲi]

螺(つみ) • (tsumi) 

1. (obsolete) spiral shellfish, especially smaller ones

From Old Japanese. Previously referred to any shellfish with a spiral shell (see ra above). Now refers more specifically to certain spiral shellfish. More common in compounds.

• (Tokyo) にし [níꜜshì] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟iɕi]

螺(にし) • (nishi) 

1. (rare) certain shellfish with a spiral shell

• 蜷(にな) (nina), 河貝子(にな) (nina)

螺(にな) • (nina) 

1. alternative spelling of 蜷 (nina, “synonym of 川蜷 (kawanina, “melanian snail, Semisulcospira libertina”)”)

• “^▲螺”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

From Middle Chinese 螺 (MC lwa). Recorded as Middle Korean 라 (la) (Yale: la) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

螺 (eumhun 소라 라 (sora ra), word-initial (South Korea) 소라 나 (sora na))

1. hanja form^? of 라/나 (“aquatic snail”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

螺: Hán Nôm readings: loa, loe

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.