大夫

Japanese

Kanji in this term
大	夫

Etymology 1

from Chinese 大夫　("great" + "man"). Also written as 太夫.

Noun

大夫 (hiragana たいふ, romaji taifu)

1. (historical) an office in Zhou Dynasty, China.
2. (historical, in Japan) substitutive style of high ranked courtier, particularly officers in the 5th rank (五位).
3. (historical, in Japan, also daibu) head of shoku(職) or bō(坊), administrative departments of the imperial court.
4. (historical) karō (家老)
5. pine tree (based in an episode Qin Shi Huangdi or the First Emperor of Qin granted a pine tree the dignity of Taifu [1.])
6. style of Shinto shrine headmaster.

Etymology 2

from taifu (see above)

Noun

大夫 (hiragana たゆう, romaji tayū)

1. (in Noh-theater) iemoto or the head master of shite (シテ) acting family.
2. (in jōruri/bunraku-theater) style of narrators and shamisen players.
3. (historical, in Edo period) highest ranked prostitutes at the officially approved prostitution areas, such as, Yoshiwara.
4. leading actor in a manzai pair
5. style of Shinto shrine headmaster

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Mandarin

simpl. and trad.
大夫

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: [ ta˥˩fu ]
• IPA: [ tai˥˩fu ]

Etymology

• From 大 ("great") + 夫 ("man")

Noun

大夫 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin dàfū)

1. (archaic) position title: usually referred to a person of importance within the central government

大夫 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin dàifu)

1. (Beginning Mandarin) doctor

Usage notes

The word 医生 is used for doctor in Mainland China far more often than 大夫 in standard or educated Mandarin. 大夫 increasingly has an obsolescent or old-fashioned connotation.

Synonyms

• 医生

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Min Nan

simpl. and trad.
大夫

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ tai˨˩hu˥˥ ]

Etymology

From 大 ("great") + 夫 ("man")

Noun

大夫 (traditional and simplified, POJ tāi-hu)

1. doctor