Forms
雪 (snow) + だるま (達磨, Daruma doll). Named after the round shape of a Daruma doll.
Cultural note
Traditional Japanese 雪だるま are made of two snowballs (head and body), unlike the Western three-ball snowman. The kanji form 雪達磨 exists but hiragana だるま is standard.
Common patterns
- 雪だるまを作る (to make a snowman)
- 雪だるまが溶ける (a snowman melts)
- 雪だるま式に増える (to snowball, to increase rapidly — idiomatic)