め

See also: ぬ

め U+3081, め HIRAGANA LETTER ME ← む [U+3080] Hiragana も → [U+3082]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞]

Etymology 1

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

Syllable

め • (me) 

1. The hiragana syllable め (me). Its equivalent in katakana is メ (me). It is the thirty-fourth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ま行え段 (ma-gyō e-dan, “row ma, section e”).

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, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of め – see the following entry.

【目】1 [noun] [from 712] 目, 眼: eye [noun] [from 720] 目: visually prominent feature of something: [noun] [from 720] 目: small hole, like those inherent to a net-like material (between the warp and the weft) [noun] [from 759] 目: short for 賽の目 (sai no me, “dice pip”) [noun] [from late 900s] 目: (by extension) experience [suffix] [from early 1400s] 目: -st, -nd, -rd, or -th, for ordinal numbers (e.g. 8th or eighth, 9th or ninth) [suffix] [from late 1800s] 目: visually prominent feature of something [suffix] (attached to verb or i-adjective roots to produce na-adjectives, no longer productive with verbs) in that direction, trending in that way Alternative spelling 眼

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

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling
芽

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.

Possibly cognate with 目・眼 (me), perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense of that term.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) め [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [me̞]

Noun

め • (me) ^{←め (me)?}

1. [from 712] 芽: bud, sprout, shoot
2. [from 1922] 芽: the germ of an idea, an inkling
3. [date unknown] 芽: (biology) a bird embryo: more specifically, as found on the yolk of an egg, the blastodisk, the germinal disk, the embryonic disk

   Synonym: 胚盤 (haiban)

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling
奴 (uncommon)

First cited to The Tale of the Heike from the early 1300s.

Might be a shift in usage of 目 (me, “visually prominent feature”). The 奴 spelling does not appear to be common, and this is not included in all dictionaries.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞]

(pitch accent depends on the entire suffixed word)

Suffix

め • (-me) 

1. (derogatory) attaches to names or words referring to people, animals, etc. to show contempt [from early 1300s]

   ばかめ！ ― Baka-me! ― You idiot!

   • 1910 [1901], Leonid Andreyev, translated by Mori Ōgai, Inu [Dog]‎^[1], translation of Snapper:

     「来(こ)いといったら来(こ)い。シュッチュカ奴(め)。馬(ば)鹿(か)な奴(やつ)だ。己(おの)れはどうもしやしない。」

     “Koi to ittara koi. Shutchuka-me. Baka na yatsu da. Onore wa dōmo shi ya shinai.”

     "If I say come, come. Silly Žučka. You fool. I won't do anything to you."

2. (humble) attaches to words referring to oneself or one's things

   私(わたし)めをお許(ゆる)しください。 ― Watashi-me o o-yurushi kudasai. ― Please forgive me.

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of め – see the following entry.

【女】1 [noun] a woman [noun] a wife [noun] a female

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