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 • (me)

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”).

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
目眼

⟨me₂⟩ → */məɨ/ → /me/

From Old Japanese,^[1] from Proto-Japonic *mai. Cognate with 目(ま) (ma, bound form). Now the modern Japanese term for eye.

Probably cognate with 見る (miru, “to see, to look”).^[1]

May also be cognate with 芽 (me, “bud, shoot”),^[1] perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense, and with suppositional / volitional verb suffix む (mu) (presenting in modern Japanese verb conjugations as the -ō or -yō endings), perhaps from the “seem like, look like” sense.

Alternative forms

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

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) め [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [me̞]

Noun

め • (me) ^{←め (me)^?}

[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
[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(ほそ)目・荒(め・あら)目(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

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)^?}

[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
[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]”)
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

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

芽

Wikipedia ^ja

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.^[1]

Possibly cognate with 目・眼 (me),^[1] perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense of that term.

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) め [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[3]^[4]
IPA^(key): [me̞]

Noun

め • (me) ^{←め (me)^?}

[from 712] 芽: bud, sprout, shoot
[from 1922] 芽: the germ of an idea, an inkling
[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.^[1]

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.^[1]^[4]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [me̞]

(pitch accent depends on the entire suffixed word)

Suffix

め • (-me)

[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(ば)鹿(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."

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-3] 3.0 ^3.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

め

Contents

Japanese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Syllable

See also

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Suffix

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Suffix

References

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め

Japanese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Syllable

See also

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Suffix

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

Suffix

References

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