Dated term for blindness or a blind person. In modern Japanese, 失明 (blindness) or 盲人 (blind person) are more common and neutral. This word may appear in historical or literary contexts.
In the past, the word 'meshii' was used, but now it is considered discriminatory.
In this old tale, a blind old man appears.
The historical derivation is uncertain; the kanji 盲 means 'blind' and the reading めしい is a native Japanese word.