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少女 (しょうじょ) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

少しょう女じょ

しょ

う

じょ

Common wordJLPTN3Freq.FrequencyTop 2,000

Meanings

1

noun

girl; young lady

Typically refers to a female roughly between 7 and 17 years old. Common in everyday language.

あの少しょう女じょは毎まい日にち公こう園えんで本ほんを読よんでいる。
That girl reads a book in the park every day.
少しょう女じょたちが楽

たの

し

そう

に

遊あそ

ん

で

いる

。

The young girls are playing happily.

2

noun

female between 17 and 20 (ritsuryō period)

archaic

Archaic legal term from the ritsuryō period. Not used in modern Japanese.

律りつ令りょう制せいでは、17歳さいから20歳はたちの女じょ性せいを「少しょう女じょ」と呼よんだ。
Under the ritsuryō system, females between 17 and 20 were called 'shōjo'.

Written forms

少しょう女じょUsage100%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency word.
小しょう女じょ
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form.

Kanji

少few, little
女woman, female
小little, small

Similar words

女おんなの子こ
More casual and commonly used for younger girls, roughly up to early teens. 少女 is slightly more formal or literary.
女じょ性せい
General term for woman or female, covering all ages. 少女 specifically denotes a young girl.

Etymology

Composed of 少 (shō, 'few, little, young') and 女 (jo, 'woman, female'). The reading is on'yomi. The archaic ritsuryō sense reflects an older legal definition.