kamaitachi means A Japanese yōkai (supernatural being), taking the form of a weasel with sharp claws, and believed to ride dust devils.
Why “kamaitachi” is a great word
A Japanese yōkai believed to be a weasel with sickle-like claws that rides whirlwinds to inflict sharp cuts, understood as both the creature and the wound itself. Borrowed from Japanese 鎌鼬 (kamaitachi), from 鎌 (kama, "sickle, scythe") + 鼬 (itachi, "weasel, marten"). Unlike the kappa, a water-dwelling trickster bound to rivers, or the tengu, a powerful, mountain-dwelling goblin, the kamaitachi is elemental and fleeting—a razor-edge riding the gale. It is the invisible blade that opens a farmer's leg as he crosses a field, the inexplicable slash in a traveler's coat, the cold, precise wound that appears as if cut by intention rather than accident; the wind bears no apology.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 鎌鼬.
noun
- A Japanese yōkai (supernatural being), taking the form of a weasel with sharp claws, and believed to ride dust devils.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
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- kamuy 52% match — A spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology, similar to the Japanese kami. vs kamaitachi →
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- kanaima 49% match — A destructive possessing spirit according to the beliefs of parts of South America. vs kamaitachi →