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苦茗 (くめい) Japanese meaning | Kotomora

苦く茗めい

Meanings

1

noun

bitter tea; low-quality tea

obsolete term

Obsolete term for tea that is bitter or of poor quality. Not used in modern Japanese; encountered only in historical texts.

古こ文ぶん書しょに「苦く茗めいを啜すする」という表ひょう現げんが見みられる。
The expression 'sipping bitter tea' can be found in old documents.

Kanji

苦suffering, trial, worry
茗tea

Similar words

苦く茶ちゃ
苦茶 is a more common term for bitter tea, though still somewhat literary. 苦茗 is an obsolete synonym.
番ばん茶ちゃ
番茶 refers to coarse, everyday tea, often lower-grade, but is a standard modern term unlike the obsolete 苦茗.

Etymology

Compound of 苦 (bitter) and 茗 (tea). The character 茗 is a classical Chinese term for tea, and the compound follows a Sino-Japanese pattern. The exact historical usage is uncertain, but it appears in older literary sources.