航空母艦(こうくうぼかん)

Compound of 航空(こうくう) ('aviation'), 母(ぼ) ('mother') and 艦(かん) ('warship') — literally 'aviation mother-ship'. The 'mother' element reflects the ship's role as a base that sends out and takes back aircraft.

Usage

• A formal or technical term; in everyday speech and news headlines the abbreviation 空母(くうぼ) is far more common.
• Appears mainly in military, historical, and news contexts.
• Often modified to specify type: 原子力(げんしりょく)空母(くうぼ) ('nuclear-powered carrier'), 護衛艦(ごえいかん) ('escort ship', used in Japan for vessels that elsewhere would be called carriers).

Common collocations

• 航空母艦(こうくうぼかん)を建造(けんぞう)する: to build an aircraft carrier
• 航空母艦(こうくうぼかん)から発艦(はっかん)する: to launch from an aircraft carrier
• 航空母艦(こうくうぼかん)に着艦(ちゃっかん)する: to land on an aircraft carrier
• 原子力(げんしりょく)航空母艦(こうくうぼかん): nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Similar words

• 空母(くうぼ): aircraft carrier — the everyday abbreviation, used in news and conversation.
• 戦艦(せんかん): battleship — a different class of heavy warship, now largely obsolete.
• 駆逐艦(くちくかん): destroyer — a smaller, fast warship.
• 護衛艦(ごえいかん): escort ship — the designation used by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force for its largest ships, including helicopter carriers.