美女

美女

Chinese

		beautiful pretty lovely	woman girl
trad. (美女)		美	女
simp. #(美女)		美	女

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): měinǚ

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˇ ㄋㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁵ neoi⁵
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): mî-ńg
• Min Dong (BUC): mī-nṳ̄
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): bí-lú / bí-lír / bí-lí

  (Teochew, Peng'im): mui² neng²

• Wu (Wiktionary): 'me ny (T2)

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: měinǚ [Phonetic: méinǚ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˇ ㄋㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: měinyǔ
    • Wade–Giles: mei³-nü³
    • Yale: měi-nyǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: meeineu
    • Palladius: мэйнюй (mɛjnjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ny²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: mei⁵ neoi⁵
    • Yale: méih néuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁵ noey⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁵ nêu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯¹³ nɵy̯¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mî-ńg
    • Hakka Romanization System: mi´ ng`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: mi¹ ng³
    • Sinological IPA: /mi²⁴ ŋ̍³¹/
• Min Dong
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: mī-nṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi³³⁻³⁵ nˡy³³/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lú
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: byluo
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ lu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lír
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lír
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ lɯ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bí-lí
    • Tâi-lô: bí-lí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bylie
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ li⁴¹/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou, Taipei): /bi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ li⁵³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: mui² neng²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: múi nṳ́ng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mui⁵²⁻³⁵ nɯŋ⁵²⁻²¹/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: 'me ny (T2)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʔme̞³³ ny⁴⁴/

Noun

美女

1. beautiful woman; beauty; lovely lady

   美女與野獸／美女与野兽  ―  měinǚ yǔ yěshòu  ―  beauty and the beast

2. A polite term of address to any woman: miss; ma'am; honey

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman):

edit

佳人 (jiārén) 出水芙蓉 (chūshuǐfúróng) (figurative) 嫭 (hù) (literary) 美人 (měirén) 行雨 (xíngyǔ) (literary, figurative)

佳麗／佳丽 (jiālì) (literary) 紅顏／红颜 (hóngyán) (literary, figurative) 靚女／靓女 (liàngnǚ) (chiefly Cantonese) 麗人／丽人 (lìrén) (literary)

Dialectal synonyms of 美女 (“beautiful woman”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		美女, 美人, 佳人, 佳麗, 麗人, 紅顏
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		美女, 美人, 佳人
Mandarin	Beijing	美人兒
	Taiwan	美女
	Singapore	美女
Cantonese	Guangzhou	靚女
	Hong Kong	靚女
	Taishan	靚女
	Kaiping (Chikan)	靚女
	Dongguan	靚女
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	靚女
	Singapore (Guangfu)	靚女
Hakka	Meixian	標緻妹仔, 靚妹仔, 靚女
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	靚女
Min Nan	Xiamen	媠查某
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	媠查某
	Quanzhou	媠查某
	Anxi	媠查某
	Zhangzhou	媠查某
	Zhao'an	媠查某
	Singapore (Hokkien)	媠查某, 俏母
	Manila (Hokkien)	媠查某
	Shantou	雅諸娘
	Jieyang	雅諸娘, 雅儂
	Leizhou	顯娘
	Wenchang	靚母
	Singapore (Hainanese)	靚母

• (term of address): 女生 (nǚshēng), 女士 (nǚshì), various female relations such as 阿姨 (āyí)

Coordinate terms

• 帥哥／帅哥 (shuàigē)

Derived terms

美女破舌 美女簪花

網路美女／网路美女 美女如雲／美女如云

Related terms

• 美男子 (měinánzǐ)
• 美少女 (měishàonǚ)
• 美少年 (měishàonián)

---

Japanese

Kanji in this term
美	女
び Grade: 3	じょ Grade: 1
kan’on

Etymology

/bidjo/ → /bid͡ʑjo/ → /biʑo/

From Middle Chinese 美女 (MC mˠiɪ^X ɳɨʌ^X). The kan'on, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On’yomi: Kan’on
• (Tokyo) び​じょ [bíꜜjò] (Atamadaka – [1])[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [bʲiʑo̞]

Noun

美(び)女(じょ) • (bijo) ^{←びぢよ (bidyo)?}

1. a beautiful girl or woman, a beauty

   美(び)女(じょ)と野(や)獣(じゅう)

   Bijo to Yajū

   Beauty and the Beast

   Synonym: 美人 (bijin, “beautiful woman”, literally “beautiful person”)

   Antonyms: 悪女 (akujo, “ugly woman; wicked or evil woman”), 醜女 (buonna, shikome, shūjo, “ugly woman”)

See also

• 眠(ねむ)れる森(もり)の美(び)女(じょ) (Nemureru Mori no Bijo): Sleeping Beauty
• 美(び)男(なん) (binan): a beautiful man
• 美(び)少(しょう)女(じょ) (bishōjo): a beautiful girl

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
2. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

---

Korean

Hanja in this term
美	女

Noun

美女 • (minyeo) (hangeul 미녀)

1. Hanja form^? of 미녀 (“a beautiful woman, a beauty”).

---

Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
美	女

Noun

美女

1. chữ Hán form of mĩ nữ/mỹ nữ (“a beautiful woman, a beauty”).