女
|
|
Translingual
Stroke order | |||
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Stroke order | |||
---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Alternative forms
- ⼥ (
U+2F25
, Kangxi radical)
Han character
女 (radical 38, 女+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 女 (V), four-corner 40400, composition ⿻𡿨丆(GJKV) or ⿻𡿨𠂇(HT))
- Kangxi radical #38, ⼥.
Derived characters
- Index:Chinese radical/女
Descendants
- め (Hiragana character derived from man'yōgana)
- メ (Katakana character derived from man'yōgana)
References
- KangXi: page 254, character 22
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 6036
- Dae Jaweon: page 516, character 19
- Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 2, page 1023, character 23
- Unihan data for U+5973
Chinese
Glyph origin
Historical forms of the character 女 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Shang | Western Zhou | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) | Liushutong (compiled in Ming) |
Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Chu Slip and silk script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Characters in the same phonetic series (女) (Zhengzhang, 2003) | |
---|---|
Old Chinese | |
拿 | *rnaː |
拏 | *rnaː |
詉 | *rnaː |
蒘 | *rnaː, *na |
笯 | *rnaː, *naː, *naːs |
挐 | *rnaː, *na |
絮 | *rnaːs, *nas, *snas, *nas |
呶 | *rnaːw |
怓 | *rnaːw |
帑 | *n̥ʰaːŋʔ, *naː |
奴 | *naː |
砮 | *naː, *naːʔ |
駑 | *naː |
孥 | *naː |
努 | *naːʔ |
弩 | *naːʔ |
怒 | *naːʔ, *naːs |
袽 | *na |
帤 | *na |
女 | *naʔ, *nas |
籹 | *naʔ |
恕 | *hnjas |
如 | *nja, *njas |
茹 | *nja, *njaʔ, *njas |
洳 | *nja, *njas |
鴽 | *nja |
蕠 | *nja |
汝 | *njaʔ |
肗 | *njaʔ |
Pictogram (象形) : a woman with breasts kneeling or standing. In modern form turned on left side: enclosed area is remnant of left breast (character's left, depicted woman's right), while right breast has disappeared. Graphically cognate to 母 (mǔ, “mother”), which has developed similarly, but also includes dots for nipples and has retained both breasts.
Etymology 1
simp. and trad. |
女 | |
---|---|---|
variant forms | 𠨰 |

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *nja-ŋ/k (“woman”).
Pronunciation 2 is an exoactive derivation of pronunciation 1 (Schuessler, 2007).
Pronunciation 1
Definitions
女
- woman
- Antonyms: 男 (nán)
- (for people) female
- daughter (Classifier: 個/个 c; 粒 c)
- (Cantonese) girl; young female (Classifier: 條/条 c; 班 c)
- (Cantonese, slang) girlfriend (Classifier: 條/条 c)
- (Cantonese, card games) queen (Classifier: 張/张 c; 隻/只 c)
- (astronomy) the Girl (a Chinese constellation near Aquarius, 10th of the Twenty-Eight Mansions and part of the Black Turtle)
Synonyms
Compounds
|
|
|
Pronunciation 2
Japanese
Readings
Compounds
- 女王 (joō), 女王 (jōō), 女王 (nyoō, “queen”)
- 女医 (joi, “female doctor”)
- 少女 (shōjo, “young girl, style of anime for young women”)
- 女系 (jokei, “woman-succession; matrilineal”)
- 女傑 (joketsu, “brave woman”)
- 女権 (joken, “women's rights”)
- 女史 (joshi, “Ms.”)
- 女中 (jochū, “maid”)
- 処女 (shojo, “virgin, maiden”)
- 女子 (joshi, “girl”)
- 女児 (joji, “female infant”)
- 女神 (joshin)
- 女性 (josei, “woman”)
- 女声 (josei, “female voice”)
- 女婿, 女壻 (josei, “son-in-law”)
- 女帝 (jotei, “empress”)
- 女優 (joyū, “actress”)
- 女流 (joryū, “female”)
- 女郎 (jorō, “prostitute”)
- 女官 (nyokan, “court lady”)
- 女性 (nyoshō)
- 女将 (nyoshō, “mistress, hostess”)
- 女人 (nyonin, “woman”)
- 女房 (nyōbō, “wife”)
- 悪女 (akujo)
- 王女 (ōjo), 王女 (ōnyo, “princess”)
- 皇女 (ōjo)
- 宮女 (kyūjo)
- 孝女 (kōjo, “filial daughter”)
- 工女 (kōjo, “female worker”)
- 皇女 (kōjo, “imperial princess”)
- 才女 (saijo)
- 二女 (jijo)
- 次女 (jijo)
- 侍女 (jijo)
- 淑女 (shukujo)
- 信女 (shinnyo)
- 仙女 (sennyo), 仙女 (senjo, “fairy, nymph, elf”)
- 善女 (zennyo)
- 善男善女 (zennan zennyo)
- 息女 (sokujo, “daughter”, honorific)
- 男女 (danjo)
- 男尊女卑 (dansonjohi)
- 痴女 (chijo, “slut, female libertine”)
- 長女 (chōjo, “eldest daughter”)
- 天女 (tennyo)
- 東女 (tonjo)
- 男女 (nannyo)
- 老若男女 (rōnyaku nannyo)
- 美女 (bijo, “beauty, belle”)
- 本女 (ponjo)
- 魔女 (majo, “witch”)
- 遊女 (yūjo)
- 幼女 (yōjo)
- 養女 (yōjo)
- 老女 (rōjo)
- 女将 (okami)
- 女形 (oyama)
- 貴女 (anata)
- 海女 (ama)
- 瞽女 (goze)
- 女衒 (zegen)
- 侍女, 従女 (makatachi)
- 巫女 (miko)
- 皇女 (miko)
- 湯女 (yuna)
Etymology 1
Kanji in this term |
---|
女 |
おんな Grade: 1 |
kun’yomi |
⟨womi1na⟩ → */womʲina/ → /womʉna/ → /wonːa/ → /onːa/
Shift from Old Japanese womina → omina (see below).
Now one of the standard Japanese words for "a woman".
Noun
女 (hiragana おんな, rōmaji onna, historical hiragana をんな)
- a woman
- 1999 July 5, “
斬 首 の美 女 [The Beheading Beauty]”, in BOOSTER 3, Konami:- その美貌とはうらはらに、カタナで数多くの首をはねてきた女。
- Sono bibō to wa urahara ni, katana de kazuōku no kuchi o hanetekita onna.
- A lady who has decapitated a great many with her katana, which is in stark contrast to her beautiful appearance.
- その美貌とはうらはらに、カタナで数多くの首をはねてきた女。
- Antonym: 男 (otoko)
-
- a wife
- a mistress, concubine
- a maid
- a prostitute
- a woman's appearance or quality
- a feminine object
- the object in a pairing which is smaller, gentler, etc. than the other
Derived terms
- 女し (onnashi)
- 女親 (onnaoya, “female parent”)
- 女形 (onnagata, “male actor in female role of kabuki”)
- 女神 (onnagami)
- 女子 (onnago)
- 女心 (onna-gokoro, “woman's mind”)
- 女坂 (onnazaka)
- 女手 (onnade, “female worker”)
- 女友達 (onna tomodachi, “girlfriend, female friend”)
- 男女 (otoko-onna)
- 彼女 (kanojo, “girlfriend”, literally “she”)
- 下種女 (gesu onna)
- 雪女 (yuki onna, “snowwoman”)
Idioms
- 女になる (onna ni naru)
- 女を上げる (onna o ageru)
Proverbs
- 女氏無くして玉の輿に乗る (onna ujinakushite tama no koshi ni noru)
- 女賢しくて牛売り損なう (onna sakashikute ushi urisokonau)
- 女三界に家なし (onna sangai ni ie nashi)
- 女三人寄れば姦しい (onna sannin yoreba kashimashī)
- 女の足駄にて造れる笛には秋の鹿寄る (onna no ashida ni te tsukureru fue ni wa aki no shika yoru)
- 女の一念岩をも通す (onna no ichinen iwa o mo tōsu)
- 女の髪の毛には大象も繫がる (onna no kami no ke ni wa taizō mo tsunagaru)
Etymology 2
Kanji in this term |
---|
女 |
おみな Grade: 1 |
kun’yomi |
⟨womi1na⟩ → */womʲina/ → /omina/
From Old Japanese.[3]
The initial /wo/ expressed "small, youth" and contrasted with /o/ "grown, old" (as in 嫗 (omina, “old woman”)), while the medial /mi/ is cognate with 女 (me, “female, woman”, see below). According to Frellesvig (2010), proto-Japonic /e/ became Old Japanese [je] in final position and [i] elsewhere; analogous with PJ /o/, which became OJ [wo] in final position and [u] elsewhere (though PJ /i/ and /u/ also existed, confer Old Japanese 火's two readings /po/ & /pu/ in Western & Eastern Old Japanese, respectively (Vovin, 2017)).
Pronunciation
Noun
Derived terms
Noun
Usage notes
Used more in compounds than on its own.
Derived terms
- 女女しい, 女々しい (memeshii, “unmanly, effeminate, sissy”)
- 姪 (mei, “niece”)
- 夫婦 (meoto, “man and wife, married couple”)
- 女親 (meoya, “mother”, archaic)
- 女神 (megami, “goddess”)
- 女瓦 (megawara)
- 女木 (megi, “female tree; lower or receiving piece of wood in a join”)
- 女君 (megimi): polite term for another person's wife or daughter
- 女子 (meko, “woman and child; girl”)
- 雌, 牝 (mesu, “female animal”)
- 女滝: in a waterfall with two cataracts, the smaller of the two
- 女竹 (medake)
- 娶る (metoru, “get married”)
- 女波 (menami): the smaller waves
- 婚く (memaku, “get married”)
- 女の子 (me no ko, “girl; woman”)
- 乳母 (menoto), 傅 (menoto, “nanny; wetnurse; foster parent”)
- 郎女 (iratsume): (archaic) an ancient term of endearment for referring to a woman or girl
- 浮かれ女, 浮女 (ukareme, “female entertainer or prostitute”)
- 采女 (uneme)
- 乙女 (otome, “maiden”)
- 姑 (shūtome, “mother-in-law”)
- 手弱女 (taoyame), 手弱女 (tawayame)
- 端女 (hashitame, “servant girl”)
- 姫 (hime, “princess”)
- 日孁, 日霊, 日女 (Hirume)
- 娘 (musume, “daughter”)
- 嫁 (yome, “bride”)
Etymology 4
Kanji in this term |
---|
女 |
Grade: 1 |
Irregular |
⟨womi1na⟩ → */womʲina/ → /womʉna/ → /woũna/ → /woːna/ → /oːna/
Variant shift from Old Japanese womina → omina (see above).
Alternative forms
Etymology 5
Kanji in this term |
---|
女 |
Grade: 1 |
Irregular |
/wonːa/ → /wona/ → /ona/
Shift from onna (see above).
Etymology 6
Kanji in this term |
---|
女 |
Grade: 1 |
Irregular |
/wona/ → /wonaː/ → /onaː/
Long-pronounced form of ona (see above).
Etymology 7
Kanji in this term |
---|
女 |
じょ Grade: 1 |
kan’on |
/dɨo/ → /d͡ʑo/
From Middle Chinese 女 (MC ɳɨʌX, ɳɨʌH).
Noun
女 (hiragana じょ, rōmaji jo, historical hiragana ぢよ)
- a woman, especially an actress or a prostitute
Proper noun
女 (hiragana じょ, rōmaji Jo, historical hiragana ぢよ)
- (Chinese astronomy) the Girl constellation, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions
- Synonyms: うるき星 (Urukiboshi), 女宿 (Joshuku)
Suffix
女 (hiragana じょ, rōmaji -jo, historical hiragana ぢよ)
- (historical) suffixed to names of female figures in the Edo period
References
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
- womina at OxFord-NINJAL Corpus of Old Japanese
- mye at OxFord-NINJAL Corpus of Old Japanese
- Horiuchi, Hideaki; Ken Akiyama (1997) Taketori Monogatari, Ise Monogatari, Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
Korean
Compounds
- 여체 (女體, yeoche)
- 여인 (女人, yeoin)
- 여자 (女子, yeoja)
- 여장 (女裝, yeojang)
- 여진 (女眞, yeojin)
- 여성 (女性, yeoseong)
- 여신 (女神, yeosin)
- 여왕 (女王, yeowang)
- 여동생 (女同生, yeodongsaeng)
- 여학생 (女學生, yeohaksaeng)
- 차녀 (次女, chanyeo)
- 창녀 (娼女, changnyeo)
- 처녀 (處女, cheonyeo)
- 미녀 (美女, minyeo)
- 손녀 (孫女, sonnyeo)
- 소녀 (少女, sonyeo)
- 소녀 (小女, sonyeo)
- 수녀 (修女, sunyeo)
- 숙녀 (淑女, sungnyeo)
- 양녀 (養女, yangnyeo)
- 처녀막 (處女膜, cheonyeomak)
- 약혼녀 (約婚女, yakhonnyeo)
- 남존여비 (男尊女卑, namjonyeobi)
- 중남경녀 (重男輕女, jungnamgyeongnyeo)
Vietnamese
Han character
女: Hán Việt readings: nữ (
女: Nôm readings: nợ[1][2][3][6][4][5][7], nữa[1][2][3][4][5][7], nữ[1][2][6][4][7], nỡ[1][2][3][6], nớ[3][6][4][5], nhỡ[1][3][6], lỡ[2][3][6], nửa[1][3], nhớ[1], nự[3]
Compounds
References
- Nguyễn (2014).
- Nguyễn et al. (2009).
- Trần (2004).
- Bonet (1899).
- Génibrel (1898).
- Hồ (1976).
- Taberd & Pigneau de Béhaine (1838).