美人

Chinese

Pronunciation

Noun

美人

1. beautiful woman; beauty; lovely lady
2. (archaic) royal consort

   • 楚莊王賜群臣酒，日暮酒酣，燈燭滅，乃有人引美人之衣者，美人援絕其冠纓，告王曰：「今者燭滅，有引妾衣者，妾援得其冠纓持之，趣火來上，視絕纓者。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     楚庄王赐群臣酒，日暮酒酣，灯烛灭，乃有人引美人之衣者，美人援绝其冠缨，告王曰：「今者烛灭，有引妾衣者，妾援得其冠缨持之，趣火来上，视绝缨者。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 77 B.C.E., 劉向 (Liu Xiang), 《說苑》 (Garden of Stories), chapter 6

     Chǔ Zhuāngwáng cì qúnchén jiǔ, rìmù jiǔhān, dēngzhú miè, nǎi yǒurén yǐn měirén zhī yī zhě, měirén yuán jué qí guānyīng, gào wáng yuē: “Jīn zhě zhú miè, yǒu yǐn qiè yī zhě, qiè yuán dé qí guānyīng chí zhī, qù huǒ lái shàng, shì juéyīng zhě.”

     King Zhuang of Chu threw a banquet for a bunch of his ministers. As nightfall approached, many of them became tipsy. At one point, the candles blew out, and someone took advantage of the darkness to grab at the queen’s garments. The queen caught hold of the cord which held the person's headpiece in place, yanked it off, then said to the king, "After the candles blew out, someone grabbed at my clothes. I yanked off the cord which holds his headpiece in place. Bring over a candle so that I can see who is missing a cord for their headpiece."

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman):

Coordinate terms

• 帥哥／帅哥 (shuàigē)

Derived terms

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 美人 (MC mijX nyin, literally “beautiful (especially feminine) + person”). Compare modern Min Nan reading bí-jîn.

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) び​じん (Atamadaka – )
• (Tokyo) びじん (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

美(び)人(じん) • (bijin) 

1. a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle

   モナ・リザといえばやはり美人(びじん)ですね。

   Mona Riza to ieba yahari bijin desu ne.

   That Mona Lisa, she really is a beauty, isn't she.

2. a handsome man
3. (rare) an ideal ruler or sage, worthy of one's love and respect
4. (historical) in ancient China, the fifth of fourteen ranks for imperial ladies-in-waiting
5. (figurative) a euphemism for a rainbow

Usage notes

The beautiful woman sense is the most common in everyday use.

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman): 美女(びじょ) (bijo)、佳人(かじん) (kajin)
• (handsome man): 美男子(びだんし) (bidanshi), 美男(びなん) (binan)

Derived terms

Idioms

Etymology 2

Compound of 顔 (kao, “face”) +‎ 良 (yo, “good”, the stem of adjective 良い yoi, “good”) +‎ 人 (hito, “person”). The hito changes to bito as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

The 美 kanji spelling for the kaoyo portion of the reading is an example of jukujikun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

美(かおよ)人(びと) • (kaoyobito) ^{←かほよびと (kafoyobito)?}

1. (archaic, possibly obsolete) a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle

References

Korean

Noun

美人 • (miin) (hangeul 미인)

1. Hanja form^? of 미인 (“a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle”).

Vietnamese

Noun

美人

1. chữ Hán form of mĩ nhân (“a beautiful woman”).