縞馬(しまうま)

しまうま
noun
zebra
animal-mammal
1. zebra
An African wild horse with distinctive black and white striped coat.
縞馬(しまうま)の縞(しま)は一頭(いっとう)ずつ違(ちが)います。
Each zebra has a unique stripe pattern.
We saw a herd of zebras on the savanna.
Zebras look like horses but are different animals.
Zebras live in Africa.
The black and white stripes of zebras are said to help protect them from predators like lions.

Literally 'striped horse' (縞(しま) 'stripe' + 馬(うま) 'horse'). In modern writing it is usually spelled in katakana, シマウマ; the kanji spelling is rare.

Counting patterns

  • 一頭(いっとう), 二頭(にとう): zebras, like other large animals, are counted with 頭(とう)

Related words