み

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mʲi]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 美 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

み (romaji mi)

1. The hiragana syllable み (mi). Its equivalent in katakana is ミ (mi). It is the thirty-second syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ま行い段 (ma-gyō i-dan, “row ma, section i”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲 (𛄲)ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of み – see the following entries.

【未】4 [prefix] un-; in- (not yet) [proper noun] the Sheep, the eighth of the twelve Earthly Branches

【味】3 [affix] flavor, taste [affix] tasting, savoring [affix] taste, savor [affix] Alternative spelling of 身 (mi): body part [noun] a flavour (UK)/flavor (US), taste [counter] counter for kinds of food, drink, medicine, etc.

【弥】S [affix] Used in transliterations.

【魅】S [affix] charm; fascination

【眉】S [affix] eyebrow

【美】3 [affix] beauty; beautiful [suffix] suffix used by female given names, such as 奈美 (なみ, Nami), 恵美 (えみ, Emi; めぐみ, Megumi), 宏美 (ひろみ, Hiromi) [suffix] (rare) suffix used by male given names

【微】S [affix] tiny; small; minute

(This term, み, is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as み, see Category:Japanese kanji read as み.)

Etymology 3

Noun

み • (mi) 

1. 身: body
2. 実: fruit; nut; content

Etymology 4

Numeral

み • (mi) 

1. 三: three

Etymology 5

Prefix

み • (mi-) 

1. 御, 美, 深: honorific prefix

Noun

み • (mi) 

1. 霊, 神: spirit; god

Etymology 6

Noun

み • (mi) 

1. 見: seeing; look; view

Etymology 7

Noun

み • (mi) 

1. 箕:

Etymology 8

Noun

み • (mi) 

1. 巳: the Snake, the sixth of the twelve Earthly Branches

Etymology 9

From Old Japanese. ⟨mi₁⟩ → /mi/

Suffix

み • (-mi) 

1. 味: (after an i-adjective stem) -ness; used for "quality" of being, as opposed to suffix さ, also translated as -ness, used for "degree" of being

   暖(あたた)かみ、厚(あつ)み、面白(おもしろ)み

   atatakami, atsumi, omoshiromi

   warmth, thickness, interest

2. (after an i-adjective stem) place

   高(たか)み、明(あか)るみ、深(ふか)み

   takami, akarumi, fukami

   high place, bright place, deep place

Usage notes

Sense 1 is sometimes confused or conflated with Sino-Japanese 味 (mi, “taste, flavor”), hence the ateji spelling.

See also

• さ (-sa)

Etymology 10

From Old Japanese. ⟨mi₁⟩ → /mi/

Considered to be from the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of 見る (miru, “to try, to attempt”).

Suffix

み • (-mi) 

1. (after verbs with opposite meanings in the ren'yōkei continuative or -zu negative continuative) indicates alternation of action or state, equivalent to the modern expression …たり…たり (…tari …tari)

   降(ふ)りみ降(ふ)らずみ

   furimi furazumi

   sometimes raining and sometimes not raining → raining on and off

   照(て)りみ曇(くも)りみ

   terimi kumorimi

   sometimes shiny and sometimes cloudy

Etymology 11

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese. ⟨mi₁⟩ → /mi/. Only used in waka since Early Middle Japanese.

Suffix

み • (-mi) 

1. (obsolete, after an i-adjective stem) as; because

   山(やま)を高(たか)み

   yama o takami

   as/because the mountain is high

2. (obsolete, after an i-adjective stem) Forms an adverbial clause: being

   山(やま)を高(たか)み

   yama o takami

   the mountain being high

3. (obsolete, after an i-adjective stem) Expresses thinking or feeling, followed by verbs like 思ふ and す.