処しょ女じょ

しょ

じょ

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 10,000

Meanings

noun

virgin; maiden

Refers to a person, usually a woman, who has not had sexual intercourse. Often contrasted with 童貞 (male virgin).

Usage patterns

処しょ女じょを守まもるto remain a virgin; to protect one's virginity
彼かの女じょは結けっ婚こんするまで処しょ女じょを守まもり続つづけた。
She remained a virgin until she got married.
処しょ女じょ林りんを探たん検けんするto explore a virgin forest
探たん検けん隊たいは処しょ女じょ林りんを探たん検けんした。
The expedition team explored the virgin forest.
処しょ女じょ作さくを発はっ表ぴょうするto publish one's debut work
彼かれは二に十じゅっ歳さいで処しょ女じょ作さくを発はっ表ぴょうした。
He published his debut work at the age of twenty.
処しょ女じょを失うしなうto lose one's virginity
彼かの女じょは十じゅう八はっ歳さいで処しょ女じょを失うしなった。
She lost her virginity at eighteen.
処しょ女じょ航こう海かいに出でるto set out on a maiden voyage
その客きゃく船せんは来らい月げつ、処しょ女じょ航こう海かいに出でる。
That passenger ship will set out on its maiden voyage next month.

Expressions

鉄てつの処しょ女じょiron maiden (torture device)
始はじめは処しょ女じょの如ごとく後のちは脱だっ兎との如ごとしhide your true strength, then swiftly attack the unprepared enemy; first like a virgin, later like a running hare

Kanji

処dispose, manage, deal with
女woman, female

Related words

未み踏とう sense 2
処女 is used prenominally for nature untouched by people (処女林、処女雪), while 未踏 stresses that no one has ever set foot there, as in 未踏の地.
バージン
処女 is the native Japanese term for 'virgin' (traditionally female-specific and more formal/literary), while バージン is a modern loanword usable for any gender in casual speech.

Opposites

童どう貞てい
童貞 refers specifically to a male who has never had sexual intercourse, while 処女 is the parallel term used for a female virgin.

Don't confuse with

童どう貞てい sense 1
処女 refers to a female virgin, while 童貞 refers specifically to a male virgin, so learners must not swap them when specifying gender.
乙女おとめN1
処女 specifically and literally means 'virgin' and can sound clinical, whereas 乙女 evokes the idealized, innocent image of a young woman without a literal reference to virginity.

Counted with

人にん sense 1
When counting a virgin as a person, the ordinary people-counter 人 is used, e.g. 処女が一人.

Word family· 15

処しょ女じょ作さく
maiden work; debut work; first work
処しょ女じょ地ち
virgin land; uncultivated land · unexplored area; frontier
処しょ女じょ峰ほう
untrodden peak; virgin peak
処しょ女じょ性せい
female virginity; maidenhood
処しょ女じょ林りん
virgin forest; primeval forest

Show 5 more

処しょ女じょ膜まく
hymen
処しょ女じょ雪ゆき
virgin snow; untracked snow
非ひ処しょ女じょ
non-virgin woman; woman with sexual experience
処しょ女じょ受じゅ胎たい
virgin birth (esp. of Jesus)
処しょ女じょ喪そう失しつ
loss of virginity (female); defloration

See all 15 in Explore →

Written forms

処しょ女じょUsage100%
Standard kanji spelling; high-frequency in news and general use.
ショジョUsage<1%

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 處女 (tshjoX nrjoX). The kanji 処 means 'place' or 'to be in a state', and 女 means 'woman', together conveying 'a woman who stays at home', i.e., an unmarried maiden, later extended to 'virgin' and figurative 'untouched' uses.