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見ず知らず (みずしらず) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Common word JLPT N1 Freq. Frequency Top 50,000 Meanings 1
noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
strange ; unfamiliar ; unknown
Used as a prenominal modifier (～の) to describe a person or thing one has never seen or met before. Often implies a complete lack of prior acquaintance.
見み ず 知し ら ず の 土と 地ち で 道みち に 迷まよ っ て しまっ た 。
I got lost in an unfamiliar place.
2
noun
stranger ; unfamiliarity
Used as a noun to refer to a person one has never met, or the state of being unknown. Often appears in set phrases like 見ず知らずの他人.
Similar words 知し らない 知らない is the standard way to say 'don't know' and can be used for facts, people, or places. 見ず知らず is more emphatic and limited to people or places one has never encountered, often with a nuance of complete unfamiliarity.
他た 人にん 他人 means 'another person' or 'stranger' in a general sense, without the strong emphasis on never having met before. 見ず知らず specifically highlights the lack of prior visual or personal acquaintance.
Etymology Compound of 見ず (mizu, negative continuative of 見る 'to see') + 知らず (shirazu, negative continuative of 知る 'to know'), literally 'without having seen or known'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the form is a fixed idiomatic expression.
