女房

Probably ultimately from Middle Chinese 女房 (MC nrjoX bjang), with an initial meaning in line with the spelling: 女 (woman) + 房 (“room, chamber”). First cited to 985.

• (Tokyo) にょーぼー (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

女(にょう)房(ぼう) • (nyōbō) ^{←にようばう (nyoubau)?}

1. a woman who works in the imperial household and is granted personal living quarters in the imperial grounds; (more generally) a female servant for a high-ranking household
2. one's female lover or love interest
3. (more specifically) one's own wife (in modern usage, often has humble nuances: generally not used when speaking to others to refer to another person's wife)
   • 1940, Osamu Dazai, Hashire Melos [Run, Melos!]‎:

     メロスには父(ちち)も、母(はは)も無(な)い。女(にょう)房(ぼう)も無(な)い。

     Merosu ni wa chichi mo, haha mo nai. Nyōbō mo nai.

     Melos had no father or mother. Nor had he a wife.

4. (historical, archaic) a nom de plume used by royalty, nobility, and other high-ranking authors in poetry contests, to avoid biasing the judges

• 女(にょう)房(ぼう)詞(ことば) (nyōbō kotoba)

• /njoːboː/ → /njoːbo/

Shortening of the final vowel in 女房 (nyōbō).

First cited to 1752.

• (Tokyo) にょーぼ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

女(にょう)房(ぼ) • (nyōbo) ^{←にようぼ (nyoubo)?}

1. one's own wife (in modern usage, often has humble nuances: generally not used when speaking to others to refer to another person's wife)

Shift from 女房 (nyōbō).

First cited to a text from the late 1100s.

This form of the word gained greater currency during the Muromachi period (1336–1573), then fell out of use in the early Edo period (1603–1868). It is possible that this form of the word is simply an orthographical variant; various Japanese references indicate that it might have still been pronounced as something like nyōbō.

• (Tokyo) にゅうぼー (Atamadaka – ) (actual pronunciation uncertain)
• IPA^(key):

女(にゅう)房(ぼう) • (nyūbō) ^{←にうばう (niubau)?}

1. (archaic) one's wife