乙女

Japanese

Kanji in this term
乙	女
おと Grade: S	め Grade: 1
kun’yomi

Etymology

/woto₂me₁/ : [wotwome] → [wotome] → /otome/

Compound of おと (oto, cognate with Old Japanese verb 復つ otsu, “to become young”) +‎ 女 (me, “girl, female”). Contrasts with 男 (otoko, “man”, original meaning of “boy”). See also 娘 (musume), 姫 (hime).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) おと​め [òtóꜜmè] (Nakadaka – [2])
  • IPA^(key): [o̞to̞me̞]

Noun

乙女 (hiragana おとめ, rōmaji otome, historical hiragana をとめ)

1. daughter
2. virgin, maiden
3. little girl, young lady

   命短 (いのちみじか)し、恋 (こい)せよ乙女 (おとめ)

   inochi mijikashi, koiseyo otome

   Life is short; fall in love.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 乙女座 (おとめざ) (otomeza): Virgo
• 乙女桜 (おとめざくら) (otomezakura): fairy primrose
• 乙女心 (おとめごころ) (otomegokoro): girl's feeling
• 乙女 (おとめ)チック (otome chikku): girly
• 早乙女 (さおとめ) (saotome): young girl
• 天津乙女 (あまつおとめ) (amatsuotome): celestial maiden

Related terms

• 少 (しょう)女 (じょ) (shōjo)