お前

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word お前. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word お前, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say お前 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word お前 you have here. The definition of the word お前 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofお前, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
まえ
Grade: 2
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
御前

From () (o, honorific prefix) + (まえ) (mae, front), literally "honourable presence in front of me". Originally a polite pronoun applied to highly respected persons such as emperors or gods.[1][2]

First attested in the early 900s.[1]

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Pronoun

(まえ) (omaeおまへ (omafe)?

  1. (informal, men's speech; or dialect) you
    • 1915, Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, 羅生門 [Rashōmon]:
      (おれ)()()()使()(ちやう)(やく)(にん)などではない。(いま)(がた)この(もん)(した)(とほ)りかゝつた(たび)(もの)だ。だから(まえ)(なわ)をかけて、どうしようと()ふやうな(こと)はない。
      Ore wa kebiishi no chō no yakunin nado de wa nai. Imashigata kono mon no shita o tōrikakatta tabi no mono da. Dakara omae ni nawa o kakete, dō shiyō to iu yō na koto wa nai.
      I am not an official of law enforcement, but simply a traveller who's happened to come across this gate a few moments ago. I'm not here to bind you in ropes or any nonsense of the sort.
Usage notes
  • Slightly condescending if used by a higher status peer to refer to a lower status peer, very informal between close equal-status peers; (very) impolite in other situations.
  • In many Japanese dialects, it is rather the standard 2nd-person pronoun, equivalent in usage to standard Japanese あなた (anata).
Derived terms

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
めえ
Grade: 2
irregular

/omae//omeː/

Corruption of (まえ) (omae). First attested in 1777.[1]

Pronunciation

Pronoun

(めえ) or () (omē or ome

  1. (dialectal, Edo, Tōhoku) you (standard second-person pronoun)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN