also: かんせん · かんぜん
noun
cicadas that sing in late autumn
Refers to cicadas that appear and sing in late autumn, often evoking a sense of the season's end. The term is somewhat literary and may be encountered in poetry or descriptive prose.
秋の終わりに寒蝉の声を聞くと、もの悲しくなる。
Hearing the song of late-autumn cicadas at the end of fall makes me feel melancholy.
Compound of 寒 (kan, 'cold') and 蝉 (semi, 'cicada'). The reading かんぜみ is a combination of on'yomi and kun'yomi, while かんせん and かんぜん are purely on'yomi readings. The word is not commonly used in everyday conversation and appears mainly in literary contexts.