the public; the street; public rumor
Most common in modern Japanese in expressions such as 巷で噂になる or 巷の声, referring to what people in society are saying or thinking.
That news has become the talk of the town.
That new shop has become the talk of the town.
巷の噂をそのまま信じるのは危ない。
It is risky to believe street rumors just as they are.
A somewhat literary or old-fashioned noun for the streets or quarters of a town, rather than a single road in the everyday sense.
祭りの夜、江戸の巷は人であふれた。
On the night of the festival, the streets of Edo overflowed with people.
scene; site; place of conflict or carnage
Literary use for a place characterized by an event, especially war, disaster, or bloodshed; often appears in phrases like 戦火の巷.
その町は一夜にして戦火の巷と化した。
The town turned overnight into a scene of war.
Rare, literary use for a dividing line or brink, especially in fixed expressions such as 生死の巷, the boundary between life and death.
重傷を負った彼は、生死の巷をさまよった。
Badly injured, he hovered between life and death.
fork in a road; crossroads
This as the original meaning. In modern use it is rare as an independent sense and is mainly relevant for older, literary, or explanatory contexts.
古い用法では、巷は道が分かれる所を指す。
In old usage, 巷 refers to a place where roads branch.
安価な商品が巷にあふれている。
Cheap goods are flooding the streets everywhere.
The village became a scene of war and devastation.
The doctors kept desperately working on the brink between life and death.
世間 refers broadly to society and public opinion, while 巷 gives the same idea a more image-based, street-level feel.
町 is the ordinary word for a town or town area, whereas 巷 in the sense of streets or quarters sounds more literary or old-fashioned.
境 is the everyday word for a boundary, while 巷 in this sense is rare and confined to literary phrases like 生死の巷.
skid row; underworld; haunt of vice
Standard attested kanji spelling, especially common in expressions about public rumor or general talk.
Attested but marked as outdated kanji usage; not recommended for normal modern writing.
Rare old spelling for ちまた; useful mainly for reading older or literary texts.
The original meaning as a fork or crossroads. The word later extended to the streets, town quarters, and by association the public or rumors circulating among people; the detailed historical derivation is not specified.