皇こう太たい后ごう

also: こうたいこう

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Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

Title for the mother of the reigning emperor, or the widow of a previous emperor. Used in historical and modern imperial contexts.

〈人ひと〉が皇こう太たい后ごうになるfor someone to become the Empress Dowager
先せん帝ていの崩ほう御ぎょにより、皇こう后ごうは皇こう太たい后ごうになった。
Upon the previous emperor's death, the empress became the Empress Dowager.

皇こう后ごうN1
皇太后 refers to the mother of the reigning emperor (or a former emperor's widow), while 皇后 is the title for the wife of the current reigning emperor.
太たい皇こう太たい后ごう
皇太后 is the emperor's mother, whereas 太皇太后 is a higher rank reserved for the emperor's grandmother.
皇こう太たい子し
皇太子 (crown prince) and 皇太后 (empress dowager, the emperor's mother) share the 皇太 prefix but refer to completely different family roles.

From Chinese 皇太后 (huángtàihòu). The reading こうたいごう is the standard Sino-Japanese on'yomi; こうたいこう is an older, now obsolete reading.