Chinese

Proper noun

高句麗

1. Goguryeo

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Old Korean.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ːkɯᵝɾi]

Proper noun

高句麗 ‎(hiragana こうくり, romaji Kōkuri, historical hiragana かうくり)

1. the Goguryeo kingdom of 37 BCE - 668 CE, one of the ancient Three Kingdoms of Korea, located in what is now North Korea and parts of Manchuria and far-eastern Russia

Derived terms

• 高句麗古墳 (こうくりこふん) ‎(Kōkuri kofun): a Goguryeo tumulus tomb

Synonyms

• 高麗 (こま) ‎(koma)

Etymology 2

Alteration from Kōkuri.^[1][2] This usage developed after the two failed attempts in 1274 and 1281 to invade Japan by the combined forces of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and the Goryeo kingdom.^[1] Goryeo was a successor kingdom to Goguryeo, but in the popular Japanese language of the time, Goryeo was still referred to as 高句麗 (Kōkuri or Kokuri, i.e. “Goguryeo”) instead of 高麗 ‎(Kōrai, the Japanese reading of “Goryeo”).

The adverb こくり ‎(kokuri, “startedly, startlingly, (jumping up) suddenly”) likely derives from this usage.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [ko̞kɯᵝɾi]

Noun

高句麗 ‎(hiragana こくり, romaji kokuri)

1. something very unfortunate and scary

   これは中々天人 (なかなかてんじん)の子 (こ)ではないぞ。むくりこくりが卵 (たまご)よ。^[3]

   Kore wa nakanaka tenjin no ko de wa nai zo. Mukuri kokuri ga tamago yo.

   I tell you, this really isn't the child of any heavenly being. This is the spawn of of great googly moogly.

Usage notes

Generally always seen in combination with むくり ‎(mukuri) or もくり ‎(mokuri), terms of similar meaning that derive from the word 蒙古 ‎(Mōko, “Mongolia”).^[1][2] Compare the English slang phrase googly moogly, possibly derived from this Japanese phrase.

Derived terms

• 蒙古高句麗 (もくりこくり, ​mokuri kokuri; むくりこくり, ​mukuri kokuri)
• 高句麗蒙古 (こくりもくり, ​kokuri mokuri; こくりむくり, ​kokuri mukuri)

Idioms

• 高句麗蒙古遁 (こくりもくりに)げる ‎(kokuri mokuri nigeru): “Goguryeo and the Mongols, run away” → to run away in complete disarray

  Although kokuri and mokuri here are both written using the spellings for two proper nouns, in this phrase they are used as adverbs. This might be ateji, or it might be that the adverbs developed from the proper nouns. Note that many other Japanese adverbs can end in -ri, such as ちょっぴり ‎(choppiri, “slightly, a little bit-ly”), たっぷり ‎(tappuri, “fully, adequately”), or ふらり ‎(furari, “aimlessly, casually, unexpectedly”).

Proper noun

高句麗 ‎(hiragana こくり, romaji Kokuri)

1. the Goguryeo kingdom of 37 BCE - 668 CE, one of the ancient Three Kingdoms of Korea, located in what is now North Korea and parts of Manchuria and far-eastern Russia

Synonyms

• 高麗 (こま) ‎(koma)

References

1. 1 2 3 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
3. ↑ c. 1610: 昨日は今日の物語 (Kinō wa Kyō no Monogatari, “The Tale of Yesterday is Today”), Anrakuan Sakuden

Korean

Proper noun

高句麗 • ‎(Goguryeo) ‎(hangeul 고구려)

1. Hanja form^? of 고구려, “Goguryeo”.

Vietnamese

Proper noun

高句麗

1. Hán tự form of Cao Câu Ly, “Goguryeo”