玄人

Japanese

Kanji in this term
玄	人
くろ Grade: S	うと Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Etymology

*/kuroputo/ → */kurofuto/ → /kurouto/

Compound of 玄(くろ) (kuro, “deep, profound”) + 人(うと) (uto, “person”).

The term 人 (hito, “person”) appears in various older compounds with a root form of 人 (*puto → *buto → *udo, *puto → *futo → *uto). This form is never seen in isolation, and it often undergoes further phonetic changes to combine with preceding vowels. Compare the formation of 仲人 (nakōdo), from naka + udo; 旅人 (tabiudo), from tabi + udo; 素人 (shirōto), from shiro + uto.

Noun

玄(くろ)人(うと) • (kurouto) 

1. professional, master

Antonyms

• 素人(しろうと) (shirōto)