家内

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 家内 – see 家內 (“wife”). (This term, 家内, is the simplified form of 家內.)
Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Kanji in this term
家	内
Grade: 2	Grade: 2

Literally ‘inside the house’ from the Sino-Japanese (on'yomi) readings of 家 (か, ka, “house”) + 内 (ない, nai, “inside”).

家内 (hiragana かない, rōmaji kanai)

This word should only be used in reference to the speaker’s own wife, whereas 奥さん (okusan) is a polite term used to refer to someone else’s wife.
妻 (tsuma) is a more general term for a wife, and can also mean spouse.
家内 is offensive to some, literally meaning “in the house”, thus carrying connotations of traditional gender roles; in this case, 妻 is preferred.

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