毒婦

毒婦

Japanese

Kanji in this term
毒	婦
どく Grade: 5	ふ Grade: 5
goon	kan’on

Etymology

Appears to be a coinage in Japanese composed of Middle Chinese-derived roots, as a compound of 毒 (doku, “poison”) +‎ 婦 (fu, “woman; wife”).

First cited to a text from 1833.[1]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ど​くふ [dóꜜkùfù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
• IPA^(key): [do̞kɯ̟ᵝɸɯ̟ᵝ]

Noun

毒(どく)婦(ふ) • (dokufu)  (historical kana どくふ)

1. [from 1833] a wicked woman, evil woman, she-devil
   • 1921, Endō Kichisaburō, 日(に)本(ほん)民(みん)族(ぞく)の爲(た)めに [For the Japanese people], page 241:

     敎(きょう)育(いく)普(ふ)及(きゅう)の結(けっ)果(か)として、文(も)字(じ)を知(し)れる毒(どく)婦(ふ)、破(は)倫(りん)漢(かん)、畜(ちく)生(しょう)道墮(どうだ)落(らく)者(しゃ)は、今(こん)後續々增(ごぞくぞくぞう)加(か)するに相(そう)違(い)ない。

     Kyōiku fukyū no kekka to shite, moji o shireru dokufu, harinkan, chikushōdō darakusha wa, kongo zokuzoku zōka suru ni sōinai.

     As a result of increasing education, exposure through literature to wicked women, immoral men, and people who have sexual relations between immediate family members will increase from now on, without a doubt.

2. a vamp, a Jezebel, a temptress
   • 2021 January 14, “逮(たい)捕(ほ)された中(ちゅう)国(ごく)人(じん)「毒(どく)婦(ふ)」の末(まつ)路(ろ)「檻(おり)に入(い)れられた獣(けもの)のようだ」 [Fate of the arrested Chinese ‘Jezebel’ “She's like a caged animal”]”, in Livedoor News‎:

     夫(おっと)の目(め)を盗(ぬす)んで性(せい)風(ふう)俗(ぞく)で働(はたら)いていたことや、 1000(せん) 万(まん)円(えん)で整(せい)形(けい)した等(など)との噂(うわさ)も影(えい)響(きょう)して、 センセーショナルな報(ほう)道(どう)が相(あい)次(つ)いだ。 […] 取(しゅ)材(ざい)の様(よう)子(す)を 『中(ちゅう)国(ごく)人(じん) 「毒(どく)婦(ふ)」 の告(こく)白(はく)』 から抜(ばっ)粋(すい)して紹(しょう)介(かい)する。

     Otto no me o nusunde seifūzoku de hataraiteita koto ya, sen man en de seikei shita nado to no uwasa mo eikyō shite, sensēshonaru na hōdō ga aitsuida. […] Shuzai no yōsu o “Chūgokujin “dokufu” no kokuhaku” kara bassui shite shōkai suru.

     Rumours that behind her husband’s back she had worked in the sex industry and that spent 10 million yen on cosmetic surgery, and so on led to a series of sensational reports. […] Excerpts from the news coverage of the “confessions of a Chinese ‘Jezebel’” are introduced below.

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN