美人びじん

Chinese

		beautiful pretty; lovely	person
trad. (美人びじん)		美よし	人ひと
simp. #(美人びじん)		美よし	人ひと

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): měirén

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˇ ㄖㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁵ jan⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mî-ngìn
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bí-lîn / bí-jîn
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶me-gnin; ⁶me-zen

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: měirén
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: měirén
    • Wade–Giles: mei³-jên²
    • Yale: měi-rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: meeiren
    • Palladius: мэйжэнь (mɛjžɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐən³⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 每まい人ひと 美人びじん

      
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed) (美人びじん兒じ／美人びじん儿)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: měirénr
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄖㄣˊㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: měirénr
    • Wade–Giles: mei³-jên²-ʼrh
    • Yale: měi-rénr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: meeirel
    • Palladius: мэйжэньр (mɛjžɛnʹr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐəɻ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mei⁵ jan⁴
    • Yale: méih yàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁵ jan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁵ yen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯¹³ jɐn²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mî-ngìn
    • Hakka Romanization System: mi´ nginˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mi¹ ngin²
    • Sinological IPA: /mi²⁴ ŋin¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lîn
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lîn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: byliin
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lin²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ lin²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-jîn
    • Tâi-lô: bí-jîn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: byjiin
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ d͡zin¹³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ zin²³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶me-gnin; ⁶me-zen
    • MiniDict: me^去さ nyin; me^去さ zen
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³me-nyin; ³me-zen
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /me²² n̠ʲin⁴⁴/, /me²² zən⁴⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: mijX nyin

Rime
Character	美よし	人ひと
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲こえ)	明あきら (4)	日ひ (38)
Final (韻いん)	脂あぶら (17)	眞しん (43)
Tone (調しらべ)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開ひらき合あい)	Open	Open
Division (等ひとし)	III	III
Fanqie	無む鄙ひな切きり	如鄰切きり
Baxter	mijX	nyin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/mˠiɪX/	/ȵiɪn/
Pan Wuyun	/mᵚiX/	/ȵin/
Shao Rongfen	/miɪX/	/ȵʑjen/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/mjiX/	/ȵin/
Li Rong	/mjiX/	/ȵiĕn/
Wang Li	/miX/	/ȵʑĭĕn/
Bernard Karlgren	/miX/	/ȵʑi̯ĕn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	mǐ	rén
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mei5	jan4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[m]rəjʔ  ni[ŋ]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*mriʔ  njin/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	美よし	人ひと
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	měi	rén
Middle Chinese	‹ mijX ›	‹ nyin ›
Old Chinese	/*[m]rəjʔ/	/*ni[ŋ]/
English	beautiful	(other) person
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	美よし	人ひと
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	8951	10800
Phonetic component	美よし	人ひと
Rime group	脂あぶら	眞しん
Rime subdivision	2	1
Corresponding MC rime	美よし	仁ひとし
Old Chinese	/*mriʔ/	/*njin/
Notes	甲きのえ文ぶん象ぞう大だい人ひと首くび插翎羽はね表ひょう美よし觀かん， 取と陳ひね獨どく秀しゅう說せつ

Noun

美人びじん

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

   • 楚すわえ莊そう王おう賜たまもの群臣ぐんしん酒さけ，日暮ひぐらし酒さけ酣たけなわ，燈ひ燭しょく滅めつ，乃有人ゆうじん引美人びじん之これ衣ころも者もの，美人びじん援絕ぜっ其冠かんむり纓えい，告つげ王おう曰：「今いま者もの燭しょく滅めつ，有ゆう引妾わらわ衣ころも者もの，妾わらわ援得とく其冠かんむり纓えい持もち之これ，趣おもむき火ひ來き上うえ，視み絕ぜっ纓えい者もの。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     楚すわえ庄しょう王おう赐群臣ぐんしん酒さけ，日暮ひぐらし酒さけ酣たけなわ，灯ひ烛灭，乃有人ゆうじん引美人びじん之これ衣ころも者もの，美人びじん援绝其冠かんむり缨，告つげ王おう曰：「今いま者もの烛灭，有ゆう引妾わらわ衣ころも者もの，妾わらわ援得とく其冠かんむり缨持もち之これ，趣おもむき火ひ来き上うえ，视绝缨者もの。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 77 B.C.E., 劉りゅう向むかい (Liu Xiang), 《說せつ苑えん》 (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.” [Pinyin]

     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):

• 佳人かじん (jiārén)
• 佳麗かれい／佳けい丽 (jiālì) (literary)
• 出水しゅっすい芙蓉ふよう (chūshuǐfúróng) (figurative)
• 嫭 (hù) (literary)
• 嬌／娇 (jiāo)
• 紅顏こうがん／红颜 (hóngyán) (literary, figurative)
• 美女びじょ (měinǚ)
• 行くだり雨う (xíngyǔ) (literary, figurative)
• 靚女／靓女 (chiefly Cantonese)
• 麗人れいじん／丽人 (lìrén) (literary)

 

Dialectal synonyms of 美女びじょ (“beautiful woman”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		美女びじょ, 美人びじん, 佳人かじん, 佳麗かれい, 麗人れいじん, 紅顏こうがん, 嬋娟せんけん
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		美女びじょ, 美人びじん, 佳人かじん
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	美人びじん兒じ
	Taiwan	美女びじょ
	Singapore	美女びじょ
Cantonese	Guangzhou	靚女
	Hong Kong	靚女
	Taishan	靚女
	Kaiping (Chikan)	靚女
	Dongguan	靚女
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	靚女
	Singapore (Guangfu)	靚女
Hakka	Meixian	標しめぎ緻妹いもうと仔こ, 靚妹仔こ, 靚女
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	靚女
Southern Min	Xiamen	媠查某
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	媠查某
	Quanzhou	媠查某
	Anxi	媠查某
	Zhangzhou	媠查某
	Zhao'an	媠查某
	Singapore (Hokkien)	媠查某, 俏母
	Manila (Hokkien)	媠查某
	Shantou	雅みやび諸しょ娘むすめ
	Jieyang	雅みやび諸しょ娘むすめ, 雅まさ儂わし
	Leizhou	顯あらわ娘むすめ
	Wenchang	靚母
	Singapore (Hainanese)	靚母
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	靚妹

Coordinate terms

• 帥そち哥／帅哥 (shuàigē)

Derived terms

• 橙だいだい紅べに美人びじん蕉／橙だいだい红美人じん蕉
• 睡ねむ美人びじん (Shuìměirén)
• 美人びじん兒じ／美人びじん儿 (měirénr)
• 美人びじん命いのち薄うす
• 美人びじん尖とんが (měirénjiān)
• 美人局つつもたせ
• 美人びじん拳けん
• 美人びじん樹じゅ／美人びじん树
• 美人びじん沱 (Měiréntuó)
• 美人びじん燈とう兒じ／美人びじん灯とう儿 (měiréndēngr)
• 美人びじん癆／美人びじん痨 (měirénláo)
• 美人びじん胎子
• 美人びじん胚子はいし
• 美人びじん蕉 (měirénjiāo)
• 美人びじん計けい／美人びじん计 (měirénjì)
• 美人びじん遲おそ暮くれ／美人びじん迟暮
• 美人びじん香が草くさ
• 美人びじん髻たぶさ (měirénjì)
• 美人びじん魚ぎょ／美人びじん鱼 (měirényú)
• 英雄えいゆう難なん過か美人びじん關せき／英雄えいゆう难过美人びじん关 (yīngxióng nán guò měirén guān)
• 蘇そ美人びじん／苏美人じん
• 虞おそれ美人びじん (yúměirén)
• 蛇へび蠍さそり美人びじん／蛇蝎だかつ美人びじん (shéxiē měirén)
• 香こう草くさ美人びじん

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (美人びじん):

• → Japanese: 美よし(び)人ひと(じん) (bijin)
• → Korean: 미인(美人びじん) (miin)
• → Vietnamese: mĩ nhân (美人びじん)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
美よし	人ひと
び Grade: 3	じん Grade: 1
kan'on

From Middle Chinese 美人びじん (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 [bíꜜjìǹ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• (Tokyo) びじん [bìjíń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [bʲiʑĩɴ]

Noun

美よし(び)人ひと(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(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(びじょ) (bijo)、佳人かじん(かじん) (kajin)
• (handsome man): 美男びなん子こ(びだんし) (bidanshi), 美男びなん(びなん) (binan)

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 美人びじん(びじん)コンテスト (bijin kontesuto): a beauty pageant, a beauty contest
• 美人びじん画が(びじんが) (bijinga): a genre of pictures, depicting feminine beauty; a picture of this genre
• 美人びじん傘かさ(びじんがさ) (bijingasa): a large and deep umbrella that was fashionable in the late Meiji period
• 美人びじん蕉(びじんしょう) (bijinshō): the Chinese-derived alternate for 姫ひめ芭蕉ばしょう (hime bashō, literally “princess plantain”), a variety of plantain of family Musaceae
• 美人びじん草そう(びじんそう) (bijinsō): alternate name for 雛罌粟ひなげし (hina-geshi, literally “chick poppy”): Papaver rhoeas, a field poppy or corn poppy

Idioms

Idioms

• 美人びじん(びじん)というも皮かわ一いち重じゅう(かわひとえ) (bijin to iu mo kawa hitoe): “even a beautiful person only has one skin” → beauty is only skin deep
• 美人びじん(びじん)に年とし(とし)なし (bijin ni toshi nashi): “a beautiful person doesn't have an age” → a beautiful person often looks young no matter their age
• 美人びじん(びじん)の終おわり(お)わりは猿さる(さる)になる (bijin no owari wa saru ni naru): “the end of [being] a beautiful person is turning into a monkey” → a beautiful woman becomes less beautiful as she ages
• 美人びじん(びじん)は言げん(い)わねど隠かくれ(かく)れなし (bijin wa iwanedo kakure nashi): “even if you don't say that someone is beautiful, there's no hiding it” → if someone is beautiful, it's obvious
• 美人びじん薄命はくめい(びじんはくめい) (bijin hakumei): “a beautiful person has a thin [i.e. short] life” → beauty often doesn't last

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
美よし	人ひと
かおよ Grade: 3	ひと > びと Grade: 1
jukujikun	kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
顔かお佳人かじん

Compound of 顔かお (kao, “face”) +‎ 良りょう (yo, “good”, the stem of adjective 良よい yoi, “good”) +‎ 人ひと (hito, “person”). The hito changes to bito as an instance of rendaku (連濁れんだく).

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠o̞jo̞bʲito̞]

Noun

美よし(かおよ)人ひと(びと) • (kaoyobito) ^{←かほよびと (kafoyobito)?}

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

Korean

Hanja in this term
美よし	人ひと

Noun

美人びじん • (miin) (hangeul 미인)

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

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
美よし	人ひと

Noun

美人びじん

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