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Definition 2025

漁師

Japanese

漁師 (ryōshi): salmon fishermen in Oregon, 1914.

Kanji in this term
漁	師
りょう Grade: 4	し Grade: 5
on'yomi

Noun

漁師 ‎(hiragana りょうし, romaji ryōshi, historical hiragana れふし)

a fisherman, someone who fishes as a livelihood

Synonyms

漁民 (ぎょみん) ‎(gyomin)
漁夫 (ぎょふ) ‎(gyofu) (archaic)
海人 (かいじん) ‎(kaijin), 海人 (あま) ‎(ama), 海人 (あまびと) ‎(amabito), 海人 (あまんど) ‎(amando) (obsolete)
釣 (つ)り人 (びと) ‎(tsuribito) (overtones of someone who fishes as a hobby)

References

↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9

Etymology

The spelling is likely from Middle Chinese compound 漁師 ‎(ngjo srij, literally “fishing + master”). Compare modern simplified Mandarin 渔师 ‎(yúshī, “fisherman”).

The expected reading would be gyoshi. The kan'yōyomi (irregular but customary reading) of ryō for the 漁 character is from confusion with the 猟 character, usually read ryō in on'yomi contexts and meaning “hunt, hunting”, as used in the homophonic term 猟師 ‎(ryōshi, “hunter”).^[1]

Pronunciation

On'yomi
(Tokyo) りょうし [ryóꜜòshì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2]
IPA^(key): [rjo̞ːɕi]