美人

Chinese

		beautiful pretty lovely	person (女人: woman)
trad. (美人)		美	人
simp. #(美人)		美	人

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): měirén

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˇ ㄖㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁵ jan⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mî-ngìn
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bí-lîn / bí-jîn
• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ⁵me-gnin

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: měirén
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: měirén
    • Wade–Giles: mei³-jên²
    • Yale: měi-rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: meeiren
    • Palladius: мэйжэнь (mɛjžɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐən³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 每人 美人

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mei⁵ jan⁴
    • Yale: méih yàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁵ jan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁵ yen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯¹³ jɐn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mî-ngìn
    • Hakka Romanization System: mi´ nginˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mi¹ ngin²
    • Sinological IPA: /mi²⁴ ŋin¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lîn
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lîn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: byliin
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lin²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ lin²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-jîn
    • Tâi-lô: bí-jîn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: byjiin
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ d͡zin¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ zin²³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ⁵me-gnin
    • MiniDict: 'me^去 nyin
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²'me-nyin
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /me³³ n̠ʲin⁴⁴/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 美人

1. beautiful woman; beauty; lovely lady
2. (archaic) royal consort

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman): (chiefly Cantonese) 靚女／靓女 (liàngnǚ), 美女 (měinǚ), (literary, figuratively) 行雨 (xíngyǔ)

Coordinate terms

• 帥哥／帅哥 (shuàigē)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (美人):

• → Japanese: 美(び)人(じん) (bijin)
• → Korean: 미인(美人) (miin)
• → Vietnamese: mĩ nhân (美人)

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
美	人
び Grade: 3	じん Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 美人 (MC mijX nyin, literally “beautiful (especially feminine) + person”). Compare modern Min Nan reading bí-jîn.

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Noun

美(び)人(じん) • (bijin) 

1. a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle

   モナ・リザといえばやはり美人(びじん)ですね。

   Mona Riza to ieba yahari bijin desu ne.

   That Mona Lisa, she really is a beauty, isn't she.

2. a handsome man
3. (rare) an ideal ruler or sage, worthy of one's love and respect
4. (historical) in ancient China, the fifth of fourteen ranks for imperial ladies-in-waiting
5. (figurative) a euphemism for a rainbow

Usage notes

The beautiful woman sense is the most common in everyday use.

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman): 美女(びじょ) (bijo)、佳人(かじん) (kajin)
• (handsome man): 美男子(びだんし) (bidanshi), 美男(びなん) (binan)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 美人(びじん)コンテスト (bijin kontesuto): a beauty pageant, a beauty contest
• 美人画(びじんが) (bijinga): a genre of pictures, depicting feminine beauty; a picture of this genre
• 美人傘(びじんがさ) (bijingasa): a large and deep umbrella that was fashionable in the late Meiji period
• 美人蕉(びじんしょう) (bijinshō): the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Chinese-derived alternate for 姫芭蕉 (hime bashō, literally “princess plantain”), a variety of plantain of family Musaceae
• 美人草(びじんそう) (bijinsō): alternate name for 雛罌粟 (hina-geshi, literally “chick poppy”): Papaver rhoeas, a field poppy or corn poppy

Idioms

Idioms

• 美人(びじん)というも皮一重(かわひとえ) (bijin to iu mo kawa hitoe): “even a beautiful person only has one skin” → beauty is only skin deep
• 美人(びじん)に年(とし)なし (bijin ni toshi nashi): “a beautiful person doesn't have an age” → a beautiful person often looks young no matter their age
• 美人(びじん)の終(お)わりは猿(さる)になる (bijin no owari wa saru ni naru): “the end of [being] a beautiful person is turning into a monkey” → a beautiful woman becomes less beautiful as she ages
• 美人(びじん)は言(い)わねど隠(かく)れなし (bijin wa iwanedo kakure nashi): “even if you don't say that someone is beautiful, there's no hiding it” → if someone is beautiful, it's obvious
• 美人薄命(びじんはくめい) (bijin hakumei): “a beautiful person has a thin [i.e. short] life” → beauty often doesn't last

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
美	人
かおよ Grade: 3	ひと > びと Grade: 1
irregular

Compound of 顔 (kao, “face”) +‎ 良 (yo, “good”, the stem of adjective 良い yoi, “good”) +‎ 人 (hito, “person”). The hito changes to bito as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The 美 kanji spelling for the kaoyo portion of the reading is an example of jukujikun.

Alternative forms

• 顔佳人

Noun

美(かおよ)人(びと) • (kaoyobito) ^{←かほよびと (kafoyobito)?}

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle

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Korean

Hanja in this term
美	人

Noun

美人 • (miin) (hangeul 미인)

1. Hanja form^? of 미인 (“a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle”).

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Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
美	人

Noun

美人

1. Template:han tu form of