How to say "detector" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- 探知機たんちきnounThe everyday choice: a device that detects or locates something hidden or distant — the sort of detector used to search for metal, fish, or buried objects.
- nounThe loanword, taken straight from English; it shows up in specialized technical jargon but is seldom the word you want, since a native term is more natural in most contexts.
- 検出器けんしゅつきnounA technical term for a device that detects the presence of something, such as gas or radiation; you meet it in scientific and engineering writing about measuring instruments.
- 検出装置けんしゅつそうちnounThe same detection idea as 検出器, with 装置 'apparatus': it frames the detector as a piece of equipment or a detecting unit within a larger system, as in engineering descriptions.
- 発見器はっけんきnounSeldom the word you want: 発見 means 'discovery', so this reads as a machine for finding things, and it is at best a marginal way to say 'detector'.
Choose 探知機 for everyday devices that find hidden or distant things, 検出器 or 検出装置 for technical detection equipment, 「ディテクター」 as a specialized loanword, and treat 発見器 as a marginal option.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
