メス

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Dutch mes (“knife”).[1][2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) メス [méꜜsù] (Atamadaka – [1])[2]
IPA^(key): [me̞sɨᵝ]

Noun

メス (rōmaji mesu)

(medicine) scalpel, lancet, medical knife

Idioms

Idioms

メスを入 (い)れる (mesu o ireru): to make an incision, as at the start of a surgical operation; to take a decisive action to resolve the root cause of an issue

Etymology 2

From French Metz, the name of a city in the Lorraine region of northeast France.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [me̞sɨᵝ]

Proper noun

メス (rōmaji Mesu)

the city of Metz, France

Synonyms

メッツ (Mettsu) (from the German pronunciation)

Etymology 3

The katakana rendering of 雌 (mesu, “female”, for non-human contexts).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) メス [mèsúꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[2]
IPA^(key): [me̞sɨᵝ]

Alternative forms

雌, 牝

Noun

メス (rōmaji mesu)

(biology, non-human) female

Usage notes

The term mesu refers to female with regard to non-human organisms.

The katakana spelling is more common in biology contexts. Of the kanji spellings, 雌 appears to be somewhat more common.

Synonyms

(human female): 女 (じょ)性 (せい) (josei)

Antonyms

(non-human male): オス (osu)
(human male): 男 (だん)性 (せい) (dansei)

References

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

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.