mizuage

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 水揚げ.

Noun

mizuage (uncountable)

1. (historical) The coming-of-age ceremony of a maiko, an apprentice geisha, often associated with loss of virginity.
   • 1997, Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha, Vintage, published 1998, page 232:

     “The first time a woman's cave is explored by a man's eel. That is what we call mizuage.”

Usage notes

• There is some dispute over to what extent (if at all) loss of virginity was traditionally involved with the ceremony.

Japanese

Romanization

mizuage

1. Rōmaji transcription of みずあげ