メドゥーサ
Medūsa[me̞dɯ̟ːsa̠]
メドゥーサ (Medūsa) is the Japanese way to say Medusa.
メドゥーサ is the most common and straightforward way to refer to the name Medusa in Japanese. When you want to provide specific context to clarify you are referring to the figure from Greek mythology, you can use the phrase ギリシア神話のメドゥーサ (Medusa from Greek mythology).
Meaning: one of the Gorgons (name)
How do you pronounce it?
Medūsa
Did you know?
- In Japanese pop culture, the character メドゥーサ often appears as a 'cute' or 'moe' anime girl rather than a terrifying monster, reflecting a common trend of reimagining mythological figures.
- The Japanese language often uses the term モンスター娘 'monster daughter' to describe characters like メドゥーサ when they are reimagined as humanoid girls.
- The spelling of メドゥーサ uses a small ゥ to recreate the 'u' sound after 'du', a common technique in Japanese to approximate foreign consonant-vowel clusters.
Examples in context
- メドゥーサはギリシア神話の怪物ですMedusa is a monster from Greek mythology.
- メドゥーサが誰かの心を石に変えましたMedusa turned someone's heart into stone.
- ギリシャ神話にメドゥーサが出てきます。Girisha shinwa ni Medūsa ga detekimasu.Medusa appears in Greek mythology.
- メドゥーサの髪は蛇です。Medūsa no kami wa hebi desu.Medusa's hair is made of snakes.
- あの彫刻はメドゥーサをモチーフにしています。Ano chōkoku wa Medūsa o mochīfu ni shite imasu.That sculpture uses Medusa as a motif.
Example conversation
Two siblings are looking at a book about mythology in the living room.
- 陽太 Yotaこのキャラクターはメドゥーサかな？Kono kyarakutā wa Medūsa kana?Is this character Medusa?
- 陽葵 Himariうん、メドゥーサだよ。Un, Medūsa da yo.Yeah, it's Medusa.
- 陽太 Yota陽葵ちゃん、彼女は怖くない？Himari-chan, kanojo wa kowaku nai?Himari, isn't she scary?
- 陽葵 Himariかっこいいから、怖くないよ。Kakkoii kara, kowaku nai yo.She's cool, so she's not scary.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “medusa” translations and entries メドゥーサ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
