princess; young noblewoman
Refers to a young woman of noble or royal birth. In modern usage, often used in fairy tales, historical contexts, or Western settings.
昔話にはよく姫が登場する。
Princesses often appear in old tales.
The prince rescued the princess from the monster.
彼女はまるでおとぎ話の姫のようだ。
She looks just like a princess from a fairy tale.
Attached to names or nouns to mean 'girl', often with a cute or affectionate nuance. Compare with 彦 (ひこ) for boys.
See also: 彦
この店の看板娘は「看板姫」と呼ばれている。
The poster girl of this shop is called the 'kanban-hime'.
彼は妹を「うちの姫」と呼ぶ。
He calls his little sister 'our princess'.
Prefix used in names of plants, animals, or objects to indicate a smaller, cuter, or lesser variety. Common in species names.
ヒメマスはサケ科の魚だ。
The hime-masu is a fish of the salmon family.
ヒメジョオンは小さな白い花を咲かせる。
The hime-joon blooms small white flowers.
prostitute (archaic, Kyoto dialect)
Archaic Kyoto dialect term for a prostitute. Not used in modern standard Japanese.
江戸時代の京都では、姫という言葉が遊女を指すことがあった。
In Edo-period Kyoto, the word 'hime' could refer to a courtesan.
姫リンゴは普通のリンゴより小さくてかわいい。
Crab apples are smaller and cuter than regular apples.
She was raised as a princess in a small castle.
妃 refers to a princess by marriage (a prince's or emperor's consort), whereas 姫 refers to a princess by birth.
姫君 is a slightly more formal, classical way of referring to a noble's daughter, while 姫 is the shorter, more versatile term that can stand alone or serve as a prefix.
姫 evokes a traditional Japanese noble lady or princess in historical or fantasy settings, whereas プリンセス suggests Western royalty or pop-culture imagery.
As a name suffix, 姫 marks a name as feminine or princess-like, while 彦 marks a name as masculine, making them gender-opposite suffixes.
姫 is the plain word for a princess, while お姫様 adds the honorific お…様 to make it more polite and affectionate.
princess · spoiled girl; hothouse flower · glue (slang)
Snow White
songstress; diva
daughter of a high-ranking person; lord's daughter
woman textile worker; weaver woman · Vega; Alpha Lyrae
female dancer; dancing girl; danseuse
younger princess · Otohime; Princess of the Dragon Palace
princess
the three princesses; three kabuki roles regarded as some of the hardest to perform
Standard kanji spelling for all senses.
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially for the suffix and prefix senses.
Outdated kanji variant; rarely used in modern Japanese.
Native Japanese word. The kanji 姫 is conventionally associated with the meaning 'princess' or 'noblewoman'. The prefix and suffix uses developed from the core meaning.
elder princess; older princess
low fence; low wall
ladies; women
small pine; short pine tree
Chinese guger tree; Schima wallichii · sasanqua; Camellia sasanqua · Japanese privet; Ligustrum japonicum
Broussonetia kazinoki; paper mulberry species
princess; daughter of a nobleman
dwarf birch
thin inner membrane of a bamboo shoot tip