# ひげ
## Japanese
### Etymology 1

* Alternative spellings
* 髭 鬚 髯
From Old Japanese.
The ge element is likely related to 毛 (ke, “hair, fur”), but further etymology is uncertain. Possibilities include:
* Shift from hohoge (頬 (hoho, “cheek”) + 毛 (ke)) or from hirege (鰭 (hire, “fin”) + 毛 (ke)). Both theories are unlikely unless the term originally referred only to cheek hair.
* Shift from hirakuke (開く (hiraku, “to open”) + 毛 (ke)), literally, “hair of the opening”. This would include other hair around the mouth, although “opening” being used to mean the mouth is unlikely.
* Shift from hege (辺 (he) + 毛 (ke)) or herige (縁 (heri, “edge”) + 毛 (ke)), literally, “edge hair”. Compare 唇 (kuchiberi) being from 口 (kuchi, “mouth”) + 縁 (heri), literally, “mouth edge”.
* The hi element being cognate with Korean 입 (ip, “mouth”).
First attested in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) ひげ [hìgé] (Heiban – [0])
* IPA: [çiɡe̞]

#### Noun

ひげ • (hige)
* (loosely) facial hair on the upper lip region, the chin, and the cheeks
    ひげを蓄(たくわ)える ― hige o takuwaeru ― to grow facial hair
    ひげを当(あ)たる ― hige o ataru ― to shave one's face
** 794, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki:鬚髻 上栗喩反 頤毛也 倭云加末智乃比偈 又花蘂之本也 髻髪也(please add an English translation of this quotation)
** 髭: mustache
    Synonym: 口髭 (kuchihige)
** 鬚: beard, goatee (chin hair)
    Synonym: 顎鬚 (agohige)
** 髯: sideburns, whiskers (cheek hair)
    Synonym: 頬髯 (hōhige)
* (figurative) whiskers (of animals)
** 1905–06, Natsume Sōseki, I Am a Cat (text here)
    彼(かれ)の鼻(はな)の先(さき)からぴんと突(つっ)張(ぱ)っている長(なが)い髭(ひげ)をびりびりと震(ふる)わせて非(ひ)常(じょう)に笑(わら)った。
       Kare no hana no saki kara pin to tsuppatteiru nagai hige o biribiri to furuwasete hijō ni waratta.
       He stuck out his whiskers and laughed so hard that they trembled.
* (figurative) antennae (of insects)
* (figurative) corn silk

##### Usage notes

* Different senses are specified by location (e.g. 口髭 (kuchihige, “mustache”)) or by use of different kanji—the mustache is 髭, the chin hair is 鬚, and the cheek hair is 髯.
* When written using kana alone, vaguely refers to the mustache, the chin hair, and the cheek hair as a whole without distinguishing.

##### Derived terms

* 顎鬚(あごひげ) (agohige, “chin hair”)
* 鯨鬚(くじらひげ) (kujirahige, “baleen, whalebone”)
* 口髭(くちひげ) (kuchihige, “moustache”)
* 虎鬚(とらひげ) (torahige)
* 鬚黴(ひげかび) (higekabi, “Phycomyces”)
* 髭雀(ひげがら) (higegara, “bearded tit (Panurus biarmicus)”)
* 髭黒(ひげくろ) (higekuro)
* 鬚鯨(ひげくじら) (higekujira, “baleen whale”)
* 髭剃(ひげそ)り (higesori, “shaving; shaving tool”)
* 髭面(ひげづら) (higezura, “bearded face; bearded person”)
* 鬚根(ひげね) (higene)
* 髭(ひげ)ペンギン (higepengin, “chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus)”)
* 髭水蛇(ひげみずへび) (higemizuhebi, “tentacled snake (Erpeton tentaculatum)”)
* 髭(ひげ)もじゃ (higemoja, “bearded one”)
* 髭奴(ひげやっこ) (higeyakko)
* 髭鷲(ひげわし) (higewashi, “bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)”)
* 無精(ぶしょう)ひげ (bushōhige, “five o'clock shadow”)
* 頬髯(ほおひげ) (hōhige, “cheek hair”)

##### Idioms

* 髭(ひげ)を撫(な)でる (hige o naderu, “to act boastfully, to show off”, literally “to stroke one's beard”)
* 御髭(おひげ)の塵(ちり)を払(はら)う (ohige no chiri o harau, “to flatter, to curry favor”, literally “to brush the dirt of the beard”)

##### Proverbs

* 竜(りゅう)の鬚(ひげ)を撫(な)で虎(とら)の尾(お)を踏(ふ)む (ryū no hige o nade tora no o o fumu, literally “stroke the beard of a dragon, tread on the tail of a tiger”)

### Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of ひげ – see the following entry. :
| 【卑下】 | [noun] humility [verb] to humble oneself |
(This term, ひげ (hige), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as ひげ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as ひげ.) :

### References

* 1 2 3 4 “髭／鬚／髯／ひげ”, in 語源由来辞典 (Gogen Yurai Jiten, “Etymology Derivation Dictionary”) (in Japanese), 2003–2025.
* ↑ “髭・鬚・髯”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN