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異郷 (いきょう) Japanese meaning | Kotomora
Freq. Frequency Top 100,000 Meanings 1
noun
foreign land ; strange land ; far-off place
Refers to a land that is distant, unfamiliar, or culturally different. 異郷 often suggests a domestic far-off place, while 異境 leans toward a foreign or exotic land.
Written forms 異い 郷きょう Usage 86%
Standard kanji form; often used for a domestic far-off land or a place that feels unfamiliar.
異い 境きょう Usage 14%
Alternate kanji form; often implies a foreign or exotic land.
Kanji 異 uncommon, different, queerness home town, village, native place
境 boundary, border, region Similar words 外がい 国こく 外国 is the common word for 'foreign country'; 異郷/異境 is more literary and emphasizes the unfamiliarity or distance.
他た 郷きょう 他郷 also means 'another land', but 異郷 carries a stronger nuance of strangeness or exoticism.
Etymology Compound of 異 (i, 'different, strange') and 郷 (kyō, 'hometown, village'). The alternate form 異境 uses 境 (kyō, 'boundary, region').
