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早乙女 (さおとめ, saotome) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
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The young rice-planting girls planted seedlings in time with the rice-planting song.
In old songs, a young girl may be called a saotome, a maiden.
Kanji 乙 the latter, duplicate, strange Related words 乙女 is a broader literary word for a maiden or young woman, while 早乙女 specifically evokes young women planting rice in traditional or poetic contexts.
少女 is the ordinary modern word for a young girl, whereas 早乙女 is old-fashioned, literary, and tied to rice-planting imagery.
Written forms 早さ 乙女おとめ Usage 98%
Standard spelling for さおとめ; this form is also familiar as a family name, but the sense here is the common noun.
サオトメ Usage 2%
早さ 少女おとめ
Attested alternate kanji spelling; much less common than 早乙女.
Etymology The form is conventionally associated with 乙女, meaning a maiden or young woman, plus 早 as written in 早乙女. The exact historical derivation of さおとめ is uncertain; the alternate spelling 早少女 makes the 'young girl' element explicit.
