蛍

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshú, compiled some time after 759 CE. Ultimate derivation unknown. * The initial ho element is almost certainly the ancient form of 火 (hi, “fire”), which appears as ho in compounds such as 炎 (honō, “flame”, originally from ho no ho) or 火屋 (hoya, “lamp chimney”). * Various theories exist regarding the taru portion. This may be from classical verb 垂る (taru, “to hang down, to droop”, in reference to a firefly's posterior; modern form 垂れる (tareru)), or a vowel shift from verb 照る (teru, “to shine”). This is, however, unsupported by comparing dialectal forms with the standard Japanese.