二に号ごう

に

ご

う

Meanings

number two; No. 2; second designated item

Used as a numbered label or designation. In everyday modern writing, Arabic-numeral 2号 is very common for this literal sense.

台たい風ふう2号ごうが沖おき縄なわに近ちかづいている。
Typhoon No. 2 is approaching Okinawa.
二に号ごう車しゃはホームの前まえの方ほうに止とまります。
Car No. 2 will stop toward the front of the platform.

noun

mistress; concubine

Old-fashioned and often disparaging euphemism for a kept mistress or concubine, implying a woman treated as 'No. 2' after the wife. Avoid as a neutral modern term.

彼かれには二に号ごうがいるという噂うわさが立たった。
A rumor spread that he had a mistress.
昔むかしの小しょう説せつでは、彼かの女じょは有ゆう力りょく者しゃの二に号ごうとして登とう場じょうする。
In the old novel, she appears as a powerful man's concubine.

See all 7 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉の二に号ごうになるto become someone's mistress
彼かの女じょは社しゃ長ちょうの二に号ごうになったと噂うわさされている。
There are rumors that she has become the company president's mistress.
〈人ひと〉を二に号ごうにするto keep someone as a mistress
あの男おとこは若わかい女じょ性せいを二に号ごうにしているらしい。
That man apparently keeps a young woman as his mistress.

Kanji

二two, two radical (no. 7)
号nickname, number, item

Related words

二に番ばん sense 1
二号 labels something as the officially numbered 'No. 2' in a series, while 二番 more generally means 'second' in order, rank, or turn.
愛あい人じん sense 2
愛人 is the common modern word for a lover or mistress, whereas 二号 is an old-fashioned, often derogatory euphemism implying she is treated as 'No. 2' after the wife.
妾めかけ sense 2
妾 is an older, more formal term for a kept concubine, while 二号 is a colloquial, somewhat derisive way of saying the same thing.

Word family

二に号ごうさん
mistress; kept woman

Written forms

二に号ごう
Standard kanji spelling; used for both the literal numbering sense and the older figurative sense.
2に号ごう
Common practical spelling for numbered labels such as models, vehicles, rooms, typhoons, and routes; not normally used for the mistress sense.

Etymology

Written with 二 'two' and 号 'number; designation', literally 'number two.' The mistress sense is a figurative euphemistic extension from the idea of a secondary partner; the exact historical development is not specified.