How do you say "rooster" in Japanese?

In Japanese, "rooster" is 雄鶏 (ondori). It is a noun pronounced "oh-n-doh-ree".

Listen to the pronunciation:

Illustration of rooster from Noun Town

Pronunciation

雄鶏 is written in kanji. Romanised as ondori, it sounds roughly like "oh-n-doh-ree" to an English ear.

Example sentence

動物園で雄鶏を見ました。

Doubutsuen de Ondori wo mimashita.

I saw a rooster at the zoo.

Usage notes

Ondori (雄鶏) is the Japanese word for rooster. Animal vocabulary is engaging for learners and appears frequently in games, zoos, farms, and nature programs.

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Questions about 雄鶏

How do you pronounce 雄鶏?

雄鶏 is romanised as ondori. Say it roughly like "oh-n-doh-ree" in English. Each Japanese syllable has even weight, so keep the rhythm steady.

Is 雄鶏 formal or casual?

雄鶏 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.

How is 雄鶏 written in Japanese?

雄鶏 is written using kanji. Kanji characters carry the core meaning; any hiragana or katakana that follow show grammatical endings.

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation.