惣そう嫁か

also: そうよめ

Meanings

archaic

Archaic term for a female street prostitute during the Edo period. Not used in modern Japanese; encountered only in historical contexts.

江え戸ど時じ代だいには、惣そう嫁かと呼よばれる街がい娼しょうがいた。
In the Edo period, there were streetwalkers called 惣嫁.

Kanji

惣all
嫁marry into, bride
総general, whole, all

Related words

遊ゆう女じょ
遊女 refers to licensed prostitutes in the pleasure quarters, while 惣嫁 were unlicensed streetwalkers.
街がい娼しょう
街娼 is the modern term for 'street prostitute'; 惣嫁 is its Edo-period equivalent.

Written forms

惣嫁
- そうか
  Historical kanji spelling for the Edo-period term; the character 惣 is an older variant of 総.
- そうよめ
総嫁
- そうか
  Alternate historical spelling using the more common 総.
- そうよめ
そうよめ
Alternate reading; rare and not the primary reading for this term.

Etymology

The term is composed of 惣 (an older variant of 総, meaning 'general' or 'overall') and 嫁 ('bride' or 'wife'), but the exact derivation is uncertain. It may have referred to women who were not bound to a specific brothel and thus 'generally available' as wives in a metaphorical sense.