also: まえして
noun
protagonist (first half of a Noh play)
In Noh theater, the main character who appears in the first half, often in a disguised or ordinary form before revealing their true nature in the second half. Contrasts with 後ジテ (のちじて), the protagonist in the second half.
See also: 後ジテ
この曲では、前ジテが旅の僧として現れる。
In this piece, the protagonist appears as a traveling monk in the first half.
前ジテと後ジテは同じ役者が演じることが多い。
The same actor often plays both the first-half protagonist and the second-half protagonist.
Compound of 前 (まえ, 'front' or 'first half') and ジテ (して, 'protagonist' in Noh). The reading じて is a voiced variant of して due to rendaku.