頬ほお

See also: 頰 and 颊

頬ほお U+982C, 頬 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-982C ← 頫 [U+982B] CJK Unified Ideographs 頭あたま → [U+982D]

Translingual

Traditional	頰
Shinjitai (extended)	頬ほお
Simplified	颊

Glyph origin

Japanese shinjitai Simplified from 頰 (夾 → 夹).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲けいせい／形声けいせい) : phonetic 夹 () + semantic 頁ぺーじ (“head”) – part of the head.

Han character

頬ほお (Kangxi radical 181, 頁ぺーじ+6, 15 strokes, cangjie input 大だい廿にじゅう一いち月がつ金きん (KTMBC), composition ⿰夹頁ぺーじ)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1404, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 7, page 4367, character 16
• Unihan data for U+982C

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 頬ほお – see 頰 (“cheek”). (This character is a variant form of 頰).

Japanese

Shinjitai (extended)	頬ほお
Kyūjitai	頰

Kanji

頬ほお

(Hyōgai kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 頰)

1. Extended shinjitai form of 頰: cheeks

Readings

• Go-on: きょう (kyō)^{←けふ (kefu, historical)}
• Kan-on: きょう (kyō)^{←けふ (kefu, historical)}
• Kun: ほお (hō, 頬ほお)^{←ほほ (fofo, 頬ほお, historical)}、ほほ (hoho, 頬ほお)^{←ほほ (fofo, 頬ほお, historical)}、つら (tsura, 頬ほお)
• Nanori: かわ (kawa)、すえみつ (suemitsu)、すえもと (suemoto)、つら (tsura)、のりみち (norimichi)、ほほ (hoho)

Compounds

• 頬髭ほおひげ(ほおひげ) (hōhige)
• 面頬めんぼう(めんぽう) (menpō)

Usage notes

The kyūjitai form 頰 was added to the Jōyō kanji list in 2010. This character form remains in common use.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
頬ほお
ほほ Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
頰 (kyūjitai)

/popo/ → /fofo/ → /hoho/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the mid-Heian period dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ほほ [hóꜜhò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ho̞ho̞]

Noun

頬ほお(ほほ) • (hoho) 

1. (anatomy) cheek (the side of the face)

Derived terms

• 微笑びしょう(ほほえ)む (hohoemu)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
頬ほお
ほお Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
頰 (kyūjitai)

[ho̞ho̞] → [ho̞ː]

Derived from hoho above.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ほお [hóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ho̞ː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

頬ほお(ほお) • (hō) ^{←ほほ (fofo)?}

1. (anatomy) cheek

Usage notes

The reading hō is more common when used as a standalone noun.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
頬ほお
つら Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
頰 (kyūjitai)

Of same origin as 列れつ (tsura, “a string or lineup of things”). Extending from the meaning of "lineup", the meaning changed to indicate the side of the items lined up. In reference to people, this came to mean the cheeks as the side of the face, and then by extension the face as a whole.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) つら [tsùráꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨɾa̠]

Noun

頬ほお(つら) • (tsura) 

1. the cheeks
2. the face (usually written 面めん)
3. one's facial expression
4. the side of something
5. the surface or front of something
6. one's honor: "face" as in save face or lose face

Alternative forms

• 面めん

Synonyms

• (face of a person): 顔かお(かお) (kao)
• (facial expression): 顔かお(かお)つき (kaotsuki), 表ひょう(ひょう)情じょう(じょう) (hyōjō)
• (face, front): 面めん(おもて) (omote)
• (side): 側がわ(がわ) (gawa), 傍はた(かたわ)ら (katawara)
• (surface, front): 表ひょう(おもて) (omote)
• (honor): 体からだ(たい)面めん(めん) (taimen), 面めん(めん)目め(ぼく) (menboku), 面めん(めん)子こ(つ) (mentsu)

Etymology 4

Used as ateji in various names.

Proper noun

頬ほお(すえみつ) • (Suemitsu) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

頬ほお(すえもと) • (Suemoto) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

頬ほお(のりみち) • (Norimichi) 

1. a male given name