むら

Japanese

Etymology 1

Alternative spellings
群 叢 (uncommon) 簇 (rare)

Analyzed by some references as an alternative form^[1] or older form^[2] of 群れ (mure, “a group, a gathering”), itself traceable to classical verb 群(む)る (muru, “to gather, to group together”), modern form 群れる (mureru).

First cited in the Kojiki of 712.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ɾa̠]

Noun

むら • (mura) 

1. 群, 叢, 簇: gathering, grouping

Affix

むら • (mura) 

1. 群, 叢, 簇: gathering, grouping

Usage notes

Often found as a compounding element, as either prefix as in Old Japanese 群山 (murayama, “mountain range, group of mountains”) or suffix as in Old Japanese 家群 (ipemura, “group of houses, settlement, village”).

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
村 𨛗 (rare)

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *mura.

Either formed from the nominalization of 群れる (mureru, “to gather”), or from Old Korean.^[3][4] In Old Korean toponyms, this appears with the phonetic spelling 牟羅 (*mura). Compare Korean 무리 (muri, “group, crowd”), also possibly cognate with 群れる (mureru, “to gather”).

Noun

むら • (mura) 

1. 村, 𨛗: village (a rural habitation of size between a hamlet and a town)
   • 2015 September 19, “竜(りゅう)角(かく)の狩(しゅ)猟(りょう)者(しゃ)”, in EXTRA PACK 2015, Konami:

     疫(えき)病(びょう)に苦(くる)しむ故(こ)郷(きょう)の村(むら)を救(すく)うため、霊(れい)薬(やく)の原(げん)料(りょう)となるドラゴンの角(つの)を乱(らん)獲(かく)する女(おんな)戦(せん)士(し)。その村(むら)はすでに、棲(す)み処(か)を追(お)われたドラゴンたちによって踏(ふ)み荒(あ)らされ、焼(や)き尽(つ)くされてしまった事(こと)を、彼(かの)女(じょ)はまだ知(し)らない・・・。

     Ekibyō ni kurushimu kokyō no mura o sukū tame, reiyaku no genryō to naru doragon no tsuno o rankakusuru onnasenshi. Sono mura wa sude ni, sumika o owareta doragon-tachi ni yotte fumiarasare, yakitsukusarete shimatta koto o, kanojo wa mada shiranai .

     A female warrior who was on the hunt for dragon horns, to make a medicine for her home village, which was suffering from a plague. Unbeknownst to her, those displaced dragons went on to lay waste and burn down her village….

Synonyms

• (village; historical, Korea): 村(スキ) (suki)

See also

• 里(さと) (sato)
• Appendix:Gikun Usage in Meiji Version of Japanese Bible/群

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling
斑

Ultimate derivation unknown. Perhaps sound-symbolic.

First cited to a text from 1275.^[5]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) むら [mùrá] (Heiban – [0])^[6]
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ɾa̠]

Noun

むら or ムラ • (mura) 

1. 斑: a design like marble or spots
2. (by extension) having variation or fluctuation

   むらがある

   mura ga aru

   uneven, variable

   むらがない

   mura ga nai

   even, uniform

   回(かい)転(てん)むら

   kaiten mura

   unsteady rotation

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
3. “村”, in 日本国語大辞典‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
4. “村”, in デジタル大辞泉‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
5. “斑”, in 日本国語大辞典‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
6. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN