Meanings
plural tokis
- A Japanese crested ibis (Nipponia nippon).
The few remaining toki live on Sado Island in Japan and in China.
1988, Look Japan, volume 34, page 1183 more examples
The Toki or Japanese crested ibis (ibis nippon) is an almost extinct kind of bird resembling the heron.
1934, Frederic de Garis, Atsuharu Sakai, We Japanese, page 354The Japanese Archipelago, fringing the eastern edge of Asia, has a rich avifauna, including what is probably the rarest bird in the world - the Toki or Japanese Crested Ibis, and one of the most recently discovered birds - the Okinawa Rail.
1982, A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan, Tokyo: Kodansha International, page 8Sado is home of the Toki (Japanese Crested Ibis), however there are no wild Ibis left in Sado[.]
2015, T. Turner, Japan Travel Guide 2017
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Chinese朱鷺 /朱鹭“literally “vermilion + heron, egret”, in reference to the red head and white plumage”
- Japanese朱鷺
- Englishtoki
From Japanese 朱鷺 (toki), calque of Chinese 朱鷺 /朱鹭 (zhūlù, “literally “vermilion + heron, egret”, in reference to the red head and white plumage”).
More words from Japanese, Chinese
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with toki
Anagrams
Cite this entry
toki. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toki
“toki.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toki. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toki,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toki.
Source: toki on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.