also: にょぞく
female bandit; female robber
Historical term for a woman who engages in banditry or robbery. Not used in modern everyday language.
Female bandits often appear in stories from that era.
woman who distracts men from truth
Only with reading にょぞく
Buddhist derogatory term for a woman seen as a temptress leading men away from spiritual pursuit. Restricted to the reading にょぞく.
In old Buddhist scriptures, a 女賊 (にょぞく) is sometimes regarded as an obstacle to spiritual practice.
Standard kanji spelling for the historical sense 'female bandit'.
Rare reading used only for the Buddhist derogatory sense.
Compound of 女 (woman) and 賊 (bandit, thief). The Buddhist sense is a specialized metaphorical extension.