妹背

妹背

Japanese

Kanji in this term
妹	背
いも Grade: 2	せ Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 妹兄

Etymology

妹 (imo, “sister; wife”) +‎ 背 (se, “brother; husband”). Imo comes first likely to avoid hiatus in Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いもせ [ìmósé] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) い​もせ [íꜜmòsè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [imo̞se̞]

Noun

妹(いも)背(せ) • (imose) 

1. (archaic, collective) sister(s) and brother(s)

   Hyponyms: 兄妹 (keimai, big bro and little sis), 姉弟 (shitei, big sis and little bro)

2. (archaic, collective) Synonym of 夫婦 (fūfu, “married couple”)