Hime

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Hime (姫?) is the Japanese word for princess or a lady of higher birth. Note that although "princess" is usually given as the translation, daughters of a monarch are actually referred to by other terms, e.g. oujyo (王女), literally king's daughter. The word hime initially referred to any beautiful female. The antonym of hime is shikome (醜女), literally ugly female, though it is archaic and rarely used. Hime may also indicate feminine or simply small when used together with other words, such as Hime-gaki (a low line of hedge).

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[edit] Proverb

  • Ichi hime ni taro (eechee heemeh nee tahroh) "First baby, a girl. Second baby, a boy": It originally meant that having a girl first, and a boy second was easier on mother as she gained experience before nurturing a boy. However, with each household having less children, this is commonly confused as having "one girl and two boys", or three children. This is because "ichi" means "one" in Japanese and "ni" means "two" in Japanese, therefore could be read as, "One girl, two boys."

[edit] Usage

[edit] Historical

[edit] Literature

[edit] Popular culture

[edit] Castle

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