How to say "aurora" in Japanese

• オーロラCommon
  nounThe common word for the aurora as a natural phenomenon: the northern or southern lights. A katakana loanword, it is what you use in ordinary talk about the lights appearing in the night sky.
  そのオーロラは実じつに見事みごとだった。↗

  The aurora was truly remarkable.
• 東雲しののめ
  nounA poetical, dated word for daybreak or dawn; its 'aurora' sense is that literary one, the glow of the dawn sky. For the northern lights it is seldom the word you want.

Use 「オーロラ」 for the aurora as a natural phenomenon — the northern or southern lights; 東雲 is a dated, poetical word for daybreak, whose 'aurora' sense refers to the glow of the dawn sky, not those lights.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• オーロラaurora
• 東雲しののめdaybreak