蝶々(ちょうちょう)

ちょうちょう
noun
butterfly
informalcolloquialanimal-insect
1. butterfly (colloquial/childish term)
A friendly, reduplicated form of 蝶(ちょう) (butterfly), used mainly by or with small children and in children's songs. Often shortened further to ちょうちょ.
「ちょうちょう、見(み)て!」と子(こ)どもが言(い)った。
"Look, a butterfly!" the child said.
ちょうちょうが花(はな)の周(まわ)りを飛(と)んでいる。
A butterfly is flying around the flower.
幼稚園(ようちえん)で「ちょうちょう」の歌(うた)を歌(うた)った。
We sang the "Chouchou" song at kindergarten.

A reduplicated, softer-sounding form of 蝶(ちょう), used with or by young children rather than in formal or scientific contexts. The classic children's song 「ちょうちょう」 (about a butterfly flitting among flowers) is well known to nearly every Japanese speaker.

Similar words

  • 蝶(ちょう): the plain, neutral word for butterfly, used in everyday and scientific contexts alike
  • ちょうちょ: a further-shortened variant of the same childish word, equally common in speech

Related Words

Related: 蝶(ちょう) (butterfly (neutral))
Compare: 胡蝶(こちょう) (butterfly (literary))
general
Added 2026.9.12 21:45 · Revised 2026.10.1 18:55
30500/30881_chouchou