メス

Japanese

Etymology 1

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Dutch mes (“knife”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) メス [méꜜsù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [me̞sɨ]

Noun

メス • (mesu) 

1. (medicine) scalpel, lancet, medical knife

Idioms

Idioms

• メスを入(い)れる (mesu o ireru): to make an incision, as at the start of a surgical operation; to take a decisive action to resolve the root cause of an issue

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French Metz, the name of a city in the Lorraine region of northeast France.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞sɨ]

Proper noun

メス • (Mesu) 

1. the city of Metz, France

Synonyms

• メッツ (Mettsu) (from the German pronunciation)

Etymology 3

The katakana rendering of 雌 (mesu, “female”, for non-human contexts).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) メス [mèsúꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [me̞sɨ]

Alternative forms

• 雌, 牝

Noun

メス • (mesu) 

1. (biology, non-human) female
   • 1984 February 20 [1983 June 15], Motoka Murakami, “気(き)になる新(しん)任(にん)先(せん)生(せい)の巻(まき) [A Little Worried about the New Teacher]”, in 六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)の剣(けん) [Musashi’s Sword], 4th edition, volume 10 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, page 147:

     おう！いたぞ。まっ白(しろ)いメス犬(いぬ)がお産(さん)のまっさいちゃうだ。２～３(に～さん)匹(びき)うまれてるが、まだあと３(さん)匹(びき)ぐらいはうまれるな。

     Ō! Itazo. Masshiroi mesu-inu ga o-san no massaichau da. Ni~sanbiki umareteru ga, mada ato sanbikigurai wa umareru na.

     Yeah! There’s a white female dog giving birth in there. 2 or 3 pups have come out but there’s probably 3 more to come.

     白(しろ)いメス犬(いぬ)⁉ひょっとすると…⁉ほら六(ム)三(サ)四(シ)、前(まえ)に十(と)一(いち)さよく白(しろ)いノラ犬(いぬ)といっしょにあそんでいたでしょう。

     Shiroi mesuinu⁉ Hyotto suru to…⁉ Hora Musashi, mae ni Toichi sa yoku shiroi norainu to issho ni asonde ita deshō.

     A white dog!? Could it be…!? Hey Musashi, you remember Toichi used to go stay with a stray white female dog a while back?

     うん‼

     Un‼

     Yeah!!

     きっと十(と)一(いち)の子(こ)よ‼十(と)一(いち)とあの白(しろ)い犬(いぬ)との赤(あか)ちゃんよ！

     Kitto Toichi no ko yo‼ Toichi to ano shiroi inu to no aka-chan yo!

     These must be Toichi’s puppies!! They’re Toichi and that white dog’s babies!

Usage notes

The term mesu refers to female with regard to non-human organisms.

The katakana spelling is more common in biology contexts. Of the kanji spellings, 雌 appears to be somewhat more common.

Synonyms

• (human female): 女(じょ)性(せい) (josei)

Antonyms

• (non-human male): オス (osu)
• (human male): 男(だん)性(せい) (dansei)