brothel customer; john
Archaic term for a patron of a brothel, literally 'one who has forgotten the eight virtues'. Not used in modern Japanese.
See also: 八徳
In Edo-period documents, the word 亡八 is used to refer to customers of the pleasure quarters.
brothel; brothel owner
Archaic term for a brothel or its owner, derived from the same 'eight virtues' concept. Extremely rare and historical.
忘八 is an old word for a brothel itself or its proprietor.
The eight Confucian virtues; 亡八/忘八 literally means 'losing/forgetting the eight virtues', implying moral degradation.
Historical kanji spelling; the word is archaic and rarely encountered in modern Japanese.
Variant kanji spelling with the same meaning and reading.
Derived from the idea of forgetting or losing the eight Confucian virtues (八徳), used as a derogatory term for those involved in the pleasure quarters. The exact historical derivation is uncertain.