少女

Cantonese

少女

Noun

少女 (traditional and simplified, jyutping siu3 neoi5)

1. young woman; girl

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Japanese

Wikipedia ^ja

Kanji in this term
少	女

Wikipedia

犬を抱く少女（しょうじょ）

Etymology 1

From Sinitic 少女.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA: [ɕʲo̞ːd͡ʑo̞]

Noun

少女 (hiragana しょうじょ, romaji shōjo, historical hiragana せうぢょ)

1. a (young, little) girl
2. (anime, manga) a style of anime and manga made for young women, shojo

Derived terms

Derived terms

少女歌劇 (しょうじょかげき, shōjo kageki): a kind of traditional Japanese light drama with no male actors and mostly young girls playing the parts 少女趣味 (しょうじょしゅみ, shōjo shumi): hobbies or interests common to young girls 少女時代 (しょうじょじだい, shōjo jidai): girlhood, one's girlhood

See also

See also

子供 (こども, 'kodomo): child 処女 (しょじょ, 'shojo): a female virgin, a maiden 女性 (じょせい, 'josei): the feminine gender; female; woman 少年 (しょうねん, 'shōnen): young boy 青年 (せいねん, 'seinen): young man 男性 (だんせい, dansei): the masculine gender; male; man

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese. Originally a compound of 乙 (oto, “young, little”) +‎ 女 (me, “female, girl”). Compare 男 (otoko, “man”), originally meaning "young boy".

Alternative forms

• 乙女

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [o̞to̞me̞]

Noun

少女 (hiragana おとめ, romaji otome)

1. a young woman, adult but unmarried: a maiden
2. a girl
3. (mythology) a celestial maiden, a fairy, a nymph
4. (Shintō) a young woman dancer performing at the 五節 (Gosechi) ceremony in the eleventh lunar month

Derived terms

Derived terms

少女さび (おとめさび, otomesabi): behavior appropriate to an adult unmarried woman 少女の頭 (おとめのかしら, otome no kashira): alternate term for 萱藻海苔, カヤモノリ (kayamo nori), a type of sea vegetable in order Scytosiphonales, of class Phaeophyceae (brown algae), used to make nori 少女子 (おとめこ, otomeko): an unmarried young woman; a girl or young woman who dances kagura at a shrine; a miko 少女心 (おとめごころ, otomegokoro): a girl's innocence, a girl's sensitive nature 少女文楽 (おとめぶんらく, otome bunraku): a kind of one-person puppet show performed by girls or young women 少女巫 (おとめみこ, otome miko): a female miko

See also

• 男 (おとこ, otoko): a man

Proper noun

少女 (hiragana おとめ, romaji Otome)

1. the title of the twenty-first chapter in The Tale of Genji: "The Maiden"

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Korean

Hanja in this word
少	女

Pronunciation

• IPA: /soːnjʌ/

Noun

少女 (sonyeo)

1. Hanja form^? of 소녀, “girl”.

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Mandarin

simpl. and trad.
少女

Noun

少女 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin shàonǚ)

1. young woman; girl

Vietnamese

Noun

thiếu nữ

1. young woman; girl