Chinese

Noun

夜叉

1. (Buddhism) yaksha (a malevolent spirit)
2. (by extension) a ferocious and hideous looking person

References

• 夜叉 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh
• Yaksha on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Japanese

夜叉 (yasha): a male and female yaksha.

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 夜叉 ‎(yæ^H cha?), itself a transliteration of Sanskrit यक्ष ‎(yakṣa).^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) や​しゃ [yáꜜshà] (Atamadaka - [1])^[3]
• IPA^(key): [ja̠ɕa̠]

Noun

夜叉 ‎(hiragana やしゃ, romaji yasha, historical hiragana やしや)

1. yaksha, a broad class of nature spirits or minor deities who appear in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology. May be male or female, benevolent or malevolent.
2. (Buddhism) in Buddhism, yakshas are held to be followers of 毘沙門天 ‎(Bishamonten, “Vaiśravaṇa, the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings”), and guardians of the north
3. (figuratively) a demon

   あの女 (おんな)の子 (こ)は怒 (おこ)るとまさに夜叉 (やしゃ)のようだよ。

   Ano onna no ko wa okoru to masa ni yasha no yō da yo.

   When that girl gets angry, she's a real demon.

Idioms

Synonyms

• 薬叉 (やくしゃ) ‎(yakusha)

Derived terms

References

1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
3. ↑ 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3