婢ひ

also: めのこやつこ

ひ

Meanings

noun

female slave

archaic

Archaic term for a woman held in bondage; historical usage only.

古こ代だいの文ぶん献けんには、婢ひとして売うられた女じょ性せいの記き述じゅつがある。
Ancient documents contain descriptions of women sold as female slaves.

noun

female servant; housemaid

Only with reading ひ

Archaic term for a domestic female servant; reading restricted to ひ.

江え戸ど時じ代だいの大おお奥おくでは、婢ひが多おおくの雑ざつ務むをこなしていた。
In the inner palace of the Edo period, female servants performed various chores.

See all 3 example sentences ›

Expressions

一いっ盗とう二に婢ひ三さん妾しょう四し妓ぎ五ご妻さいthe most thrilling relationships for a man are another man's wife, a maidservant, a mistress, a prostitute, and finally his own wife

Kanji

婢maidservant
女woman, female
子child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM
奴guy, slave, manservant

Related words

奴ど隷れい
Modern general term for 'slave', not gender-specific and not archaic.
女じょ中ちゅう
Historical term for a maid or female servant, more common than 婢 but still old-fashioned.

Word family· 7

奴ぬ婢ひ
slaves (ritsuryō system); bondservants · male and female servants; manservants and maids
下か婢ひ
servant girl; maidservant
侍じ婢ひ
lady-in-waiting; female attendant
僕ぼく婢ひ
male and female servants
少しょう婢ひ
young female servant

Show 2 more

老ろう婢ひ
old housemaid; old female servant
公く奴ぬ婢ひ
government-owned slave

Written forms

婢Usage100%
- ひ
  Archaic kanji for a female slave or servant; rarely used in modern Japanese.
- めのこやつこ
女めの子奴こやつこ
Archaic compound spelling literally meaning 'girl child servant'; reading めのこやつこ.
めのこやつこ

Etymology

The kanji 婢 is composed of 女 (woman) and 卑 (lowly), suggesting a woman of low status. The reading ひ is the on'yomi. The compound 女の子奴 is a native Japanese construction with the reading めのこやつこ, literally 'girl child servant'. Both forms are archaic.