花魁

Chinese
 
flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
 chief; head
trad. (花魁) 花 魁
simp. #(花魁) 花 魁

Pronunciation

Noun

花魁

  1. queen of flowers, referring especially to plum blossom
  2. (literary, historical) the most famous courtesan in a brothel; famous prostitute

Derived terms
  • 占花魁
  • 獨占花魁／独占花魁
  • 花魁娘子

Japanese
Kanji in this term
花 魁
Grade: 1 Jinmeiyō
Irregular

Etymology

/oira no/ → /oiran/

A contraction of 己等 (oira, first-person pronoun) + の (no, possessive particle). Young assistants used to call their elder courtesans 己等の (oira no), an ellipse for 己等の姉さん (oira no nēsan, literally "my elder sister").[1]

The kanji spelling is jukujikun (熟字訓), borrowed from Chinese 花魁.

Pronunciation
  • (Irregular reading)

Noun

花魁 (hiragana おいらん, rōmaji oiran)

  1. (archaic, slang) an oiran (elder courtesan in Edo-period Yoshiwara)
  2. any high-ranking courtesan
    Synonym: 太夫 (tayū)
  3. a prostitute

Derived terms

See also

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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