女士

Chinese

	female; woman; daughter	scholar; warrior; knight
trad. (女士)	女	士
simp. ^#(女士)	女	士
alternative forms	女仕
anagram	士女

Etymology

Originally, the combination was close to the literal meaning, i.e., a female 士 (shì, “person from higher, educated social stratum”), a woman whose character, upbringing, and conduct matched those expected of the 士 class. For example, in the Shijing (《詩·大雅·既醉》):

釐爾女士，從以孫子。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

釐尔女士，从以孙子。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Lí ěr nǚshì, cóng yǐ sūnzǐ. [Pinyin]

There is given you a heroic wife,
And from her shall come [the line of] descendants.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Since when has it been used as a title? Can we find early attestations of the usage?”)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): nǚshì
(Zhuyin): ㄋㄩˇ ㄕˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): neoi⁵ si⁶
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): ńg-sṳ
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): lú-sū / lír-sǐr / lí-sū
(Teochew, Peng'im): neng² se⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: nǚshì
  - Zhuyin: ㄋㄩˇ ㄕˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: nyǔshìh
  - Wade–Giles: nü³-shih⁴
  - Yale: nyǔ-shr̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: neushyh
  - Palladius: нюйши (njujši)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ny²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    女士
    女式
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: neoi⁵ si⁶
  - Yale: néuih sih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: noey⁵ si⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: nêu⁵ xi⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɵy̯¹³ siː²²/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ńg-sṳ
  - Hakka Romanization System: ng` sii
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ng³ si⁴
  - Sinological IPA: /ŋ̍³¹ sɨ⁵⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Kaohsiung)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lú-sū
  - Tâi-lô: lú-sū
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lwsu
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /lu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ su³³/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /lu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ su²²/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lír-sǐr
  - Tâi-lô: lír-sǐr
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /lɯ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ sɯ²²/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Taipei)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: lí-sū
  - Tâi-lô: lí-sū
  - Phofsit Daibuun: lysu
  - IPA (Taipei): /li⁵³⁻⁴⁴ su³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /li⁵³⁻⁴⁴ su²²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: neng² se⁶
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: nṳ́ng sṳ̆
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɯŋ⁵²⁻³⁵ sɯ³⁵/

Noun

女士

lady
Ms.; Miss

Antonyms

(lady): 男士 (nánshì)

Derived terms

女士優先／女士优先 (nǚshì yōuxiān)