woman entertainer; prostitute
Historical term for a woman who entertained guests, often with sexual services implied. Not used in modern Japanese; replaced by terms like 芸者 or 遊女 depending on context.
In the Edo period, courtesans performed arts at banquets.
この小説には、妓女として生きた女性の悲劇が描かれている。
This novel depicts the tragedy of a woman who lived as a courtesan.
Standard kanji form for this historical term.
Variant kanji form; less common but attested.
From Chinese 妓女 (jìnǚ), meaning 'female entertainer' or 'prostitute'. The kanji 妓 and 伎 both relate to performance or skill, and 女 means 'woman'.