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ひげ. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ひげ, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ひげ in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ひげ you have here. The definition of the word
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Japanese
Etymology 1
Alternative spellings
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髭 鬚 髯
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From Old Japanese.
The ge element is likely related to 毛 (ke, “hair, fur”), but further etymology is uncertain. Possibilities include:
- Shift from hohoge (頬 (hoho, “cheek”) + 毛 (ke)) or from hirege (鰭 (hire, “fin”) + 毛 (ke)). Both theories are unlikely unless the term originally referred only to cheek hair.[1]
- Shift from hirakuke (開く (hiraku, “to open”) + 毛 (ke)), literally, “hair of the opening”. This would include other hair around the mouth, although “opening” being used to mean the mouth is unlikely.[1]
- Shift from hege (辺 (he) + 毛 (ke)) or herige (縁 (heri, “edge”) + 毛 (ke)), literally, “edge hair”. Compare 唇 (kuchiberi) being from 口 (kuchi, “mouth”) + 縁 (heri), literally, “mouth edge”.[1]
- The hi element being cognate with Korean 입 (ip, “mouth”).[1]
First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.[2]
Pronunciation
Noun
ひげ • (hige)
- (broadly) facial hair on the upper lip region, the chin, and the cheeks
- ひげを蓄える ― hige o takuwaeru ― to grow facial hair
- ひげを当たる ― hige o ataru ― to shave one's face
- 髭: mustache
- Synonym: 口髭 (kuchihige)
- 鬚: beard, goatee (chin hair)
- Synonym: 顎鬚 (agohige)
- 髯: sideburns, whiskers (cheek hair)
- Synonym: 頬髯 (hōhige)
- (figurative) whiskers (of animals)
- 1905–06, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here)
- 彼の鼻の先からぴんと突張っている長い髭をびりびりと震わせて非常に笑った。
- Kare no hana no saki kara pin to tsuppatteiru nagai hige o biribiri to furuwasete hijō ni waratta.
- He stuck out his whiskers and laughed so hard that they trembled.
- (figurative) antennae (of insects)
- (figurative) corn silk
Usage notes
- Different senses are specified by location (e.g. 口髭 (kuchihige, “mustache”)) or by use of different kanji—the mustache is 髭, the chin hair is 鬚, and the cheek hair is 髯.
- When written using kana alone, vaguely refers to the mustache, the chin hair, and the cheek hair as a whole without distinguishing.
Derived terms
Derived terms
- 顎鬚 (agohige, “chin hair”)
- 鯨鬚 (kujirahige, “baleen, whalebone”)
- 口髭 (kuchihige, “moustache”)
- 虎鬚 (torahige)
- 鬚黴 (higekabi, “Phycomyces”)
- 髭雀 (higegara, “bearded tit (Panurus biarmicus)”)
- 髭黒 (higekuro)
- 鬚鯨 (higekujira, “baleen whale”)
- 髭剃り (higesori, “shaving; shaving tool”)
- 髭面 (higezura, “bearded face; bearded person”)
- 鬚根 (higene)
- 髭ペンギン (higepengin, “chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus)”)
- 髭水蛇 (higemizuhebi, “tentacled snake (Erpeton tentaculatum)”)
- 髭もじゃ (higemoja, “bearded one”)
- 髭奴 (higeyakko)
- 髭鷲 (higewashi, “bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)”)
- 無精ひげ (bushōhige, “five o'clock shadow”)
- 頬髯 (hōhige, “cheek hair”)
Idioms
- 髭を撫でる (hige o naderu, “to act boastfully, to show off”, literally “to stroke one's beard”)
- 御髭の塵を払う (ohige no chiri o harau, “to flatter, to curry favor”, literally “to brush the dirt of the beard”)
Proverbs
Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of ひげ – see the following entry.
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(This term, ひげ (hige), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as ひげ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as ひげ.)
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 “髭/鬚/髯/ひげ”, in 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese), 2003–2024.
- ^ “髭・鬚・髯”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN