め

See also: ぬ

め U+3081, め HIRAGANA LETTER ME ← む [U+3080] Hiragana も → [U+3082]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 女 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

め (romaji me)

1. The hiragana syllable め (me). Its equivalent in katakana is メ (me). It is the thirty-fourth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ま行え段 (ma-gyō e-dan, “row ma, section e”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲 (𛄲)ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
目 眼

⟨me₂⟩ → */məɨ/ → /me/

From Old Japanese. Cognate with ま#目 (ma, bound form), possibly through fusion of 目 (ma, bound form) +‎ い (i, emphatic nominal particle). Now the modern Japanese term for eye.

Probably cognate with 見る (miru, “to see, to look”).

May also be cognate with 芽 (me, “bud, shoot”), perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense.

Compare Tagalog mata.

Alternative forms

• (non-productive, bound form)
  • (prefixal) ま (ma)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) め​ [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [me̞]

Noun

め • (me) ^{←め (me)?}

1. [from 712] 目, 眼: eye

   目(め)がかゆいです。

   Me ga kayui desu.

   My eyes feel itchy.

   眠(ねむ)そうな目(め)をする、眠(ねむ)そうな目(め)をこする

   nemusō na me o suru, nemusō na me o kosuru

   to have a sleepy look on one's face (eyes that look sleepy), to rub sleepy eyes

2. [from 720] 目: visually prominent feature of something:
   1. [from 720] 目: small hole, like those inherent to a net-like material (between the warp and the weft)

      Hyponym: おりめ (orime)

      ミシン目(め)

      mishin-me

      perforation

      細目(ほそめ)・荒目(あらめ)

      hosome arame

      small hole; large hole

   2. [from 759] 目: short for 賽の目 (sai no me, “dice pip”).
      • 2015 January 10, “悪(あく)魔(ま)のサイコロ [Demon’s Die]”, in 決闘者の栄光 －記憶の断片－ side：武藤遊戯 [Duelist Road －Piece of Memory－ side: Mutō Yūgi], Konami:

        ①(いち)：サイコロを１(いっ)回(かい)振(ふ)る。相(あい)手(て)フィールドのモンスターの攻(こう)撃(げき)力・守(りょく・しゅ)備(び)力(りょく)は、ターン終(しゅう)了(りょう)時(じ)まで出(で)た目(め)の数(かず)×(かける)100( ひゃく)ダウンする。

        Ichi: Saikoro o ikkai furu. Aite fīrudo no monsutā no kōgekiryoku shubiryoku wa, tān shūryōji made deta me no kazu kakeru hyaku daun suru.

        1: Roll a die once. Until the end of this turn, the attack and defense strength of the monsters on your opponent’s field decreases by the result ×100.

      • 2015 September 19, “サイコロン [Dicyclone]”, in STRUCTURE DECK R　－真帝王降臨－ [STRUCTURE DECK R －Advent of the True Sovereign－], Konami:

        ①(いち)：サイコロを１(いっ)回(かい)振(ふ)り、出(で)た目(め)の効(こう)果(か)を適(てき)用(よう)する。

        Ichi: Saikoro o ikkai furi, deta me no kōka o tekiyō suru.

        1: Roll a die once, then apply an effect accordingly to the result.

   3. [from late 900s] 目: (by extension) experience

      Synonym: 体験

      痛(いた)い目(め)に遭(あ)う

      itai me ni au

      to go through something terrible

      酷(ひど)い目(め)に遭(あ)う

      hidoi me ni au

      to meet a terrible fate

      大変(たいへん)な目(め)に遭(あ)う

      taihen na me ni au

      experience something serious

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 目(め)垢(あか) (meaka, “eye gunk”)
• 眼(め)医(い)者(しゃ) (meisha, “an eye doctor”)
• 眼(め)鏡(がね) (megane, “glasses”)
• 目(め)糞(くそ) (mekuso), 目(め)屎(くそ) (mekuso, “eye gunk”)
• 盲(めくら) (mekura, “blindness”)
• 目(め)尻(じり) (mejiri, “the corner of an eye”)
• 目(め)玉(だま) (medama, “eyeball”)
• 目付(めつ)き (metsuki, “look#Noun, expression of the eyes”)
• 目(め)脂(やに) (meyani, “eye gunk”)
• 赤(あか)目(め) (akame, “red eyes”)
• 片(かた)目(め) (katame, “one eye”)
• 生(き)真(ま)面(じ)目(め) (kimajime, “person who is too serious”)
• 黒(くろ)目(め) (kurome, “black iris, an eye with large pupils or irises”)
• 血(ち)眼(め) (chime, “bloodshot eyes”)
• 近(ちか)眼(め) (chikame, “nearsightedness”)
• 茶(ちゃ)目(め) (chame, “playfulness”)
• 猫(ねこ)目(め)石(いし) (nekomeishi, “cat's eye (jewel)”)
• パンダ目(め) (pandame, “black eye”)
• 一(ひと)目(め) (hitome)
• 雪(ゆき)目(め) (yukime, “snow blindness”)
• 横(よこ)目(め) (yokome, “sidelong glance”)

Suffix

め • (-me) ^{←め (me)?}

1. [from early 1400s] 目: -st, -nd, -rd, or -th, for ordinal numbers (e.g. 8th or eighth, 9th or ninth)

   三本(さんぼん)目(め)のボトル

   sanbon-me no botoru

   third bottle

2. [from late 1800s] 目: visually prominent feature of something

   結(むす)び目(め)、編(あ)み目(め)、効(き)き目(め)

   musubime, amime, kikime

   knot (literally, “tying + [visual feature]”), stitch (literally, “knitting + [visual feature]”), effect or efficacy (literally, “working, having an effect + [visual feature]”)

3. め: (attached to verb or i-adjective roots to produce na-adjectives, not productive with verbs) to a more exaggerated degree

   ‎多い (ooi) + ‎め (-me) → ‎多め (oome)

   ‎控える (hikaeru) + ‎め (-me) → ‎控えめ (hikaeme)

Etymology 3

Alternative spelling
芽

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.

Possibly cognate with 目・眼 (me), perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense of that term.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) め​ [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [me̞]

Noun

め • (me) ^{←め (me)?}

1. [from 712] 芽: bud, sprout, shoot
2. [from 1922] 芽: the germ of an idea, an inkling
3. [date unknown] 芽: (biology) a bird embryo: more specifically, as found on the yolk of an egg, the blastodisk, the germinal disk, the embryonic disk

   Synonym: 胚盤 (haiban)

Etymology 4

Alternative spelling
奴 (uncommon)

First cited to The Tale of the Heike from the early 1300s.

Might be a shift in usage of 目 (me, “visually prominent feature”). The 奴 spelling does not appear to be common, and this is not included in all dictionaries.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [me̞]

(pitch accent depends on the entire suffixed word)

Suffix

め • (-me) 

1. [from early 1300s] 奴: derogatory suffix attached to people's names or words that refer to people, animals, etc.

   ばか奴(め)！

   Baka-me!

   Idiot!

   • 1910 [1901], Leonid Andreyev, translated by Mori Ōgai, Inu [Dog]‎^[1], translation of Snapper:

     「来(こ)いといったら来(こ)い。シュッチュカ奴(め)。馬鹿(ばか)な奴(やつ)だ。己(おの)れはどうもしやしない。」

     “Koi to ittara koi. Shutchuka-me. Baka na yatsu da. Onore wa dōmo shi ya shinai.”

     "If I say come, come. Silly Žučka. You fool. I won't do anything to you."