乙女

Chinese
2nd heavenly stem female; woman; daughter
trad. (乙女) 乙 女
simp. #(乙女) 乙 女

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 乙(おと)女(め) (otome).

Pronunciation

Noun

乙女

  1. (neologism, slang, ACG) maiden; virgin; pure girl

Derived terms

Japanese
Kanji in this term
乙 女
おと
Grade: S		 め
Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

Etymology

⟨woto2me1⟩ → /wotome/ → /otome/

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

Compound of おと (oto, cognate with Old Japanese verb 復つ otsu, “to become young”) +‎ 女 (me, “girl, female”).[1][2] Contrasts with 男 (otoko, “man”, original meaning of “boy”).[1][2] See also 娘 (musume, “daughter”), 姫 (hime, “princess”).

Pronunciation

Noun

乙(おと)女(め) • (otome) ←をとめ (wotome)?

  1. daughter
  2. virgin, maiden
  3. little girl, young lady
    命(いのち)短(みじか)し、恋(こい)せよ乙(おと)女(め)
    inochi mijikashi, koiseyo otome
    Life is short; fall in love, young woman.

Derived terms
Derived terms

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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