耽美

Chinese

		covet; enjoy	beautiful; beauty; America
trad. (耽美)		耽	美
simp. #(耽美)		耽	美
Literally: “to covet beauty”.

Etymology

Originally coined in Japanese as a translation of “aestheticism” (equivalent Chinese term: 唯美主義), and was applied in the description of BL-themed comics since the 1970s which at the time were mostly aesthetic and romantic. The latter meaning was later reintroduced into Chinese (as wasei kango).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dānměi

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄢ ㄇㄟˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dānměi
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄢ ㄇㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: danměi
    • Wade–Giles: tan¹-mei³
    • Yale: dān-měi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: danmeei
    • Palladius: даньмэй (danʹmɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tän⁵⁵ meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 耽美

1. (slang, gay slang) love between men or boys, especially as a literary genre; boys' love (BL)

See also

• 耽美狼
• 斷背／断背 (duànbèi)
• 拉拉 (lālā)
• 男同 (nántóng)
• 女同 (nǚtóng)
• 同志 (tóngzhì)
• 同性戀／同性恋 (tóngxìngliàn)

(deprecated template usage)