湖(みずうみ)

みずうみ
noun
lake
geography
1. lake
A large body of water surrounded by land. Bigger than a pond (池(いけ)).
湖(みずうみ)で泳(およ)ぎました。
I swam in the lake.
きれいな湖(みずうみ)ですね。
It's a beautiful lake, isn't it?
湖(みずうみ)のまわりを歩(ある)きましょう。
Let's walk around the lake.
この湖(みずうみ)は魚(さかな)がたくさんいます。
This lake has many fish.
山(やま)の中(なか)にある静(しず)かな湖(みずうみ)で、家族(かぞく)と一緒(いっしょ)にキャンプをしました。
We camped with our family at a quiet lake in the mountains.

湖(みずうみ) refers to a lake - a large body of water surrounded by land.

Etymology

The native word みずうみ is みず (water) + うみ (sea): a "freshwater sea." The kanji 湖(みずうみ) is a single character, not a spelling of those two.

Similar words

Common collocations

RELATED WORDS (lakes in Japan):

  • 琵琶湖(びわこ): Lake Biwa (largest in Japan)
  • 河口湖(かわぐちこ): Lake Kawaguchi (near Mt. Fuji)
  • 十和田湖(とわだこ): Lake Towada

Usage

Lake names use the Sino-Japanese reading ～湖(こ) as a suffix: 琵琶(びわ)湖(こ), 河口(かわぐち)湖(こ).

Related Words

Related: 川(かわ) (river, stream)
Compare: 池(いけ) (pond)
Compare: 沼(ぬま) (marsh, swamp)
core
Added 2026.1.7 21:45 · Revised 2026.10.8 15:20
00500/00867_mizuumi