小姐

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Chinese

small; tiny; few
small; tiny; few; young
 
 older sister
trad. (小姐) 小 姐
simp. #(小姐) 小 姐

Pronunciation

Note: siău-chê - Directly from Mandarin 小姐 (xiǎojiě).

Noun

小姐

  1. Miss (a term of address for a young or unmarried woman)
    王小姐來了。／王小姐来了。  ―  Wáng xiǎojiě lái le.  ―  Miss Wang is here. / Miss Wang is coming.
    帳務由心細的李小姐經手，絕對不會出錯。 [MSC, trad.]
    帐务由心细的李小姐经手，绝对不会出错。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhàngwù yóu xīnxì de Lǐ xiǎojiě jīngshǒu, juéduì bùhuì chūcuò.
    The accounting is carefully handled by Miss Li; absolutely no mistakes are made.
  2. young lady
  3. (chiefly Mainland China, dated or slang) barmaid; prostitute

Usage notes

  • In mainland China, 小姐 is less used to mean “young lady” because the meaning “prostitute” took over the original meaning; 女士 (nǚshì) is used instead.
    • One can still use 小姐 as a title (see the usage example).
    • One should not use 小姐 to call a waitress; the neutral word 服務員／服务员 (fúwùyuán) should be used for that instead.
    • The definition may revert somewhat in the distant future (as with 姑娘 (gūniang)).
    • The term is still used in some compound words such as 大小姐 (dàxiǎojiě).

Synonyms

  • 女士 (nǚshì, “lady; miss”)
  • (young lady): (Hokkien, dated) 娘仔

Derived terms

See also

  • 太太 (tàitai, “madame, wife”)
  • 夫人 (fūrén, “madame”)
  • 先生 (xiānshēng, “mister”)

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia