臣おみ

also: しん

お

み

Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

noun

retainer; attendant

archaic

Archaic term for a servant or vassal in historical contexts.

古ふるい文ぶん書しょでは、臣おみは主しゅ君くんに仕つかえる者ものを指さした。
In old documents, 臣 referred to a person who served a lord.

noun

Omi (hereditary title)

archaic

Only with reading おみ

Historical hereditary title; originally one of the two highest, later demoted to sixth of eight under the 八色の姓 system. Reading is おみ.

Kanji

臣retainer, subject

Related words

家か臣しん sense 1
家臣 is the standard historical term for a vassal serving a lord, while 臣 is an older, more archaic word for the same role.
拙せっ者しゃ sense 3
拙者 is another archaic humble first-person pronoun, used especially by samurai, similar in register to 臣 (しん) but more common in period fiction.
臣しん下か sense 1
臣下 is a slightly more common classical term for a subject or retainer, largely interchangeable with the archaic 臣.

Opposites

主しゅ君くん sense 1
主君 means the lord or master whom a 臣 (retainer) serves, making it the natural opposite in a feudal relationship.

Don't confuse with

連むらじ
連（むらじ）and 臣（おみ）are both hereditary kabane titles from the Yakusa no Kabane system, but 臣 originally ranked higher and was reserved for court nobility, while 連 was tied to military and ritual clans.

Written forms

臣Usage100%
- おみ
  Standard kanji form for the historical title and archaic retainer sense.
- しん
  Reading しん is used for the humble first-person pronoun in archaic servant speech.
しん

Etymology

The kanji 臣 originally depicted an eye looking down, symbolizing a servant or subject. The reading おみ is native Japanese, while しん is the Sino-Japanese reading.