手前

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Japanese[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Kanji in this term

Grade: 1
まえ
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Compound of Old Japanese elements (te, hand) +‎ (mae, front), originally meaning “that which is just in front of one's hand”.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

()(まえ) (temaeてまへ (temafe)?

  1. position that is just in front or before; in the nearer position
    あの(みせ)(こう)()(てん)()(まえ)にある。
    Ano mise wa kōsaten no temae ni aru.
    That store is just in front of the intersection.

Pronoun[edit]

()(まえ) (temaeてまへ (temafe)?

  1. (dated, humble, men's speech) I, me (who stands before you)
  2. (rare, informal, sometimes derogatory) you
Antonyms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Kanji in this term

Grade: 1
まえ > めえ
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Corruption of temae. The vowel shift emphasizes the confrontational sense of the term.[2][3] This flattening of diphthongs to monophthongs is characteristic of Tokyo's Shitamachi dialect. Compare おめえ (omē, from お前 (omae)), ねえ (, from ない), やべえ (yabē, from やばい (yabai)).

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

()(めえ) (temē

  1. (vulgar, derogatory, men's speech) you, you son of a bitch, you bastard
    ()(めえ)(なに)しやがった
    Temē, nani shiyagatta n da!
    You bastard, what did you do!?
Usage notes[edit]

Usually spelled in hiragana as てめえ.

Synonyms[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006) 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997) 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 2000, Jonathan Bunt, Gillian Hall, The Oxford Starter Japanese Dictionary, First Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN