素人

素人

1. commoner; layman; amateur

Compound of 素 (しろ) (shiro, “plain, undecorated”) + 人 (うと) (uto, “person”).

The term 人 (hito, “person”) appears in various older compounds with a root form of 人 (*puto → *buto → *udo, *puto → *futo → *uto). This form is never seen in isolation, and it often undergoes further phonetic changes to combine with preceding vowels. Compare the formation of 仲人 (nakōdo), from naka + udo; 旅人 (tabiudo), from tabi + udo.

素人 (hiragana しろうと, rōmaji shirōto, alternative reading しろと, rōmaji shiroto, alternative reading しらびと, rōmaji shirabito)

1. amateur, novice
2. respectable woman (one who is not a prostitute, geisha, or hostess)
3. (archaic, Kyoto dialect) unlicensed prostitute

• 初 (しょ)心 (しん)者 (しゃ) (shoshinsha)

• 玄人 (くろうと) (kurōto)