| Term | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 赤い鉄砕牙 (あかいてっさいが) |
Red Tessaiga. A transformation of Tessaiga that breaks down all but the strongest of barriers. |
| おすわり！ | 'Sit!', as to a dog. When Kagome says this around Inuyasha, the nenju on his neck slams him to the ground. |
| お主 (おぬし) | An archaic term for 'you'. |
| お札 (おふだ) | Paper charms to ward off evil. Often used in seals, etc. Miroku usually has a number of these with him. |
| 隠し井戸 (かくしいど) | Covered well. The one in the Higurashi shrine links the modern era with the Sengoku era. Called 枯れ井戸 (dry well) and 骨食いの井戸 (bone-eating well) in the Sengoku era. |
| 風穴 (かざあな) | The curse in Miroku's hand that resembles a black hole. Literally, 'wind hole'. |
| 風の傷 (かぜのきず) | Tessaiga's special attack. Sends searing gashes of energy at foes. Literally 'wound of the wind'. |
| 枯れ井戸 (かれいど) | Dry well. One in particular links the modern and Sengoku eras, and is also called the 骨食いの井戸 (bone-eating well), or 隠し井戸 (covered well) in the present. |
| 狐火 (きつねび) | Foxfire. Shippou's green flames. Visually impressive, but it's mostly illusion. |
| 着物 (きもの) | In modern Japanese kimono refers to the traditional garb that English speakers think of, but in previous times it just meant 'clothes'. |
| 車 (くるま) | 'Car' in modern Japanese, but previously just 'vehicle'. Kagome's bicycle is often referred to by this word. |
| 結界 (けっかい) | A (supernatural) barrier. Used to block or deflect attacks, or for concealment. |
| 気配 (けはい) | A sense of something, usually detecting an unseen presence, from the surrounding situation. Often used when Kagome detects a Shikon shard. |
| 現代 (げんだい) | The modern era. |
| 御神木 (ごしんぼく) | Sacred tree. The one on the Higurashi shrine is over 500 years old, and is where Kikyou sealed Inuyasha. |
| 言霊 (ことだま) | The supernatural power of words. Specifically, when Kagome says おすわり (sit) around Inuyasha. |
| 五雷指 (ごらいし) | A youkai claw weapon Kouga recently aquired. It's quite powerful, but any more specific powers are unknown. Literally 'five thunder fingers'. |
| 金剛石 (こんごうせき) | An old Japanese term for diamond. Literally 'sturdy gold stone'. |
| 金剛槍破 (こんごうそうは) | Tessaiga's most powerful attack to date. Fires a barrage of diamond shrapnel. Translated to something like 'diamond spear destruction'. |
| 最猛勝 (さいみょうしょう) | Poisonous insects Naraku uses to keep Miroku's Kazaana from being a threat, and for recon. Literally 'fiercest victory'. |
| 散魂鉄爪 (さんこんてっそう) | Inuyasha's basic clawing attack. Literally something like 'soul-scattering iron claws'. See Inuyasha's page for details. |
| 四魂(しこん)のかけら | Shikon shards. Pieces of the Shikon no Tama, which are still more than powerful enough to be dangerous in the wrong hands. |
| 四魂(しこん)の玉(たま) | The mystic jewel that started everything. See the Shikon no Tama page for details. |
| 死魂虫 (しにだまちゅう) | The creatures that harvest souls from the recently dead for Kikyou. Literally 'dead soul insect'. |
| 邪気 (じゃき) | Sort of an evil or malicious aura. Similar to youki, but not quite the same. |
| 瘴気 (しょうき) | Toxic or corrosive fumes, such as those Naraku is fond of releasing in concentrated form. Also translated as 'miasma'. |
| 戦国時代 (せんごくじだい) | The era of civil war in Japan in which most of the action in Inuyasha takes place. It lasted from the mid to late 1400s until some time in the 1500s (different sources disagree on the exact dates). |
| 退治屋 (たいじや) | Exterminator. Sango's clan and others who hunt youkai are referred to as youkai-taijiya. |
| 鉄砕牙 (てっさいが) | The youtou left to Inuyasha by his father. Has lots of interesting features, including safeguards to prevent the wrong person from using it. See Inuyasha's page for details. Literally 'iron-crushing fang'. |
| 天生牙 (てんせいが) | The youtou left to Sesshoumaru by his father. Revives the dying, but can't kill normal creatures. Recently reforged to have offensive capability. See Sesshoumaru's page for details. Literally 'heaven life fang'. |
| 闘鬼神 (とうきじん) | Once Sesshoumaru's offensive sword, now broken. Literally 'war demon god'. |
| 毒華爪 (どっかそう) | Sesshoumaru's poison claw attack. Literally 'poison petal claw'. |
| 人頭杖 (にんとうじょう) | The staff Sesshoumaru lets Jaken use. Among other things, it can breathe fire. Literally 'staff of human heads'. |
| ～ねえ | Macho-sounding verb, etc., ending. Same meaning as ～ない. Inuyasha talks like this constantly. |
| 念珠 (ねんじゅ) | A string of beads used by Buddhists in prayer. Often depicted in Inuyasha as having holy powers. |
| 爆流破 (ばくりゅうは) | Tessaiga's most powerful inherent attack. Turns youki attacks back on their user at increased strength. See Inuyasha's page for details. Literally something like 'bursting flow destruction'. |
| 破魔の矢 (はまのや) | The enchanted arrows fired by miko. See Kagome's page for details. Literally 'arrows that breaks demons'. |
| 半妖 (はんよう) | Half-youkai. Generally, the other half is human. |
| 飛刃血爪 (ひじんけっそう) |
One of Inuyasha's attacks, this flings blades of blood. See Inuyasha's page for details. Literally 'flying blood-blade claws'. |
| 火鼠の毛 (ひねずみのけ) |
Fire-rat fur. Inuyasha's outer garment is made of it. Though lightweight, it's stronger than most armor. |
| 飛来骨 (ひらいこつ) | Sango's oversized boomerang. Made of youkai bone. Literally 'fly come bone'. |
| 封印 (ふういん) | A seal. Commonly used in passive past tense verb form, 封印された, as 'sealed'. |
| 不妖壁 (ふようへき) | A stone that conceals youki. Naraku's baby used it to hide, but it has since been destroyed. Literally something like 'un-youkai wall'. |
| 法力 (ほうりき) | Buddhist powers, such as those Miroku uses. |
| 骨食いの井戸 (ほねくいのいど) |
The well that links the modern and Sengoku eras. Also known as the 枯れ井戸 (dry well) in the Sengoku period, and the 隠し井戸 (covered well) in Kagome's time. Youkai remains left in the well vanish after a few days, hence the name, which means bone-eating well. |
| 巫女 (みこ) | A maiden who serves the (Shinto) gods. Miko in Inuyasha, such as Kikyou, have supernatural powers. |
| 冥道残月破 (めいどうざんげつは) |
An offensive ability for Tenseiga, literally 'dark road' + 'dawn moon' + 'destroy'. It slices open a rift into the world of the dead that sucks in the victim's body. |
| 物の怪 (もののけ) | Lingering vengeful spirit. Apparently a subvariety of youkai. |
| ～やがる | Attaches to verb stems. A rude way of expressing disdain, contempt, etc., for people or their actions. Inuyasha uses it frequently. |
| 妖～ (よう～) | 妖 can be tacked onto just about anything to mean youkai-whatever. |
| 妖怪 (ようかい) | There's no good English translation, but it's similar to 'demon' or 'monster'. |
| 妖気 (ようき) | A youkai's 'ki'. Sort of like 'life force' or an aura. |
| 妖爪 (ようそう) | Youkai claws. |
| 妖刀 (ようとう) | Youkai sword, such as Inuyasha's Tessaiga or Sesshoumaru's Tenseiga. |
| 妖力 (ようりょく) | Youkai power. Can refer either to the strength of a youkai or to special youkai abilities. |
| 竜鱗の鉄砕牙 (りゅうりんのてっさいが) |
Dragon-scaled Tessaiga. A transformation of Tessaiga that allows it to absorb youki, but Inuyasha can't handle it very well yet. |
| 霊力 (れいりょく) | Spiritual power, such as that of a miko. |
| わし | An archaic term for 'I'. |