雌

Translingual

Han character

雌 (Kangxi radical 172, 隹+6, 14 strokes, cangjie input 卜一心人土 (YMPOG), four-corner 2011₄, composition ⿰此隹)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1366, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41998
• Dae Jaweon: page 1871, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4098, character 18
• Unihan data for U+96CC

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 雌
Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰe) : phonetic 此 (OC *sʰeʔ) + semantic 隹.

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Definitions

雌

1. (formal) female (describing animals and plants)

   • 其在鳥則雄為陽雌為陰；……。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     其在鸟则雄为阳雌为阴；……。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Shuoyuan, circa 1^st century BCE

     Qí zài niǎo zé xióng wèi yáng cí wéi yīn;.......

     Among birds, males are yang and females are yin; .

2. (literary) weak; delicate

Usage notes

• Commonly used for animals and plants to mean "female" in academic contexts, less commonly used in non-academic contexts (use "母" instead), and not used for humans (use "女" instead). For example:

  母雞／母鸡  ―  mǔjī  ―  hen

  母牛  ―  mǔniú  ―  cow

Synonyms

• (weak):

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “female”): 雄 (xióng, “male”)

Compounds

References

• “雌”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kun: め (me, 雌, Jōyō); めす (mesu, 雌, Jōyō); めん (men, 雌)

Compounds

Etymology 1

First cited to 1867.

The initial me- is the same me component seen in many terms referring to senses of "female". The final -su portion is of uncertain derivation.

The kanji as used originally in Chinese and in older Japanese with the on'yomi of shi referred more specifically to female birds. If the term mesu is much older than the 1800s, the final -su portion may be the ancient morpheme that appears in various names for types of bird, such as 烏 (karasu, “crow”) or 鶯 (uguisu, “bush warbler”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) めす​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

雌(めす) or 雌(メス) • (mesu) 

1. a female (plant or animal)
2. (vulgar) a female person; bitch
3. an internal socket

Antonyms

• 雄(おす) (osu, “male”)

Derived terms

• 雌(めす)黒(ぐろ)豹(ひょう)紋(もん) (mesugurohyōmon): the Argynnis sagana, a type of butterfly

Etymology 2

Appears in the Kojiki of 712 CE.

From Old Japanese 女 (me, “woman”). This spelling is used exclusively for non-human contexts.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) め​ (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

雌(め) • (me) 

1. a female (plant or animal)

   Antonym: 雄 (o)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

First cited to 1839.

/me no/ → /men/

From fusion of 雌 (me, “female plant or animal”) + の (no, “possessive particle”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) めん (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) め​ん (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

雌(めん) • (men) 

1. a female (plant or animal)

   Antonym: 雄 (on)

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 雌 (MC tshje).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Affix

雌(し) • (shi) 

1. female (plant or animal)

   Antonym: 雄 (yū)

2. effeminate

References

Korean

Hanja

雌 • (ja) (hangeul 자, revised ja, McCune–Reischauer cha, Yale ca)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Old Japanese

Alternative forms

• (female animal): 牝

Etymology

Extension of 女 (me₁, “woman”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Noun

雌 (me₁) (kana め)

1. female (plant or animal)

Derived terms

• 雌鳥 (me₁do₂ri)

Descendants

• Japanese: 雌 (め, me)

Vietnamese

Han character

雌: Hán Nôm readings: thư

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.