Kusa (草): 4 Possible Meanings of the Japanese Word
Kusa (草), originally meaning grass or weed, is a word sometimes seen in the names of Wagashi (和菓子: traditional Japanese confections), like Kusa Daifuku (草大福) or Kusa Mochi (草餅).
As guessed from it, the word can be a prefix in the Japanese language, but we use it differently from the above in some cases, including Kusa Yakyu (草野球).
Also, nowadays, the Japanese Kanji character 草 frequently appears as slang on SNS like Twitter, but do you know what it stands for?
Meaning of Kusa (草) in Japanese
So far, you can realize that 草 (Kusa) has four different meanings in Japanese. Specifically,
- The original meaning is grass or weed.
- In the name of Wagashi (like 草餅 or 草大福), 草 usually refers to Yomogi (蓬: mugwort) or a herb made from the leaves of the Japanese mugwort plant, as mentioned in this article.
- Also, when used as a prefix in names like Kusa Yakyuu (草野球: meaning sandlot/amateur baseball) or Kusa Keiba (草競馬: local horse race), 草 can mean not being full-fledged or professional.
- As an internet slang, 草 is equivalent to the “lol” used by English speakers. 草 has another expression, “w” (looking like a blade of grass), derived from warai/笑, meaning laugh. The transition is 笑 → warai → w → 草.
(Reference Pages: Goo Japanese Dictionary 草 (くさ), Otona Life )
