# め

| め | U+3081, &#12417; HIRAGANA LETTER ME |
| ← む [U+3080] | Hiragana | も → [U+3082] |

## Japanese
### Pronunciation

* IPA: [me̞]

### Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 女 in the cursive sōsho style.

#### Syllable

め • (me)
* The hiragana syllable め (me). Its equivalent in katakana is メ (me). It is the thirty-fourth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is ま行え段 (ma-gyō e-dan, “row ma, section e”).

##### See also

* (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲 (𛄲)ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

### Etymology 2

* Alternative spellings
* 目 眼
⟨me$_2$⟩ → */məɨ/ → /me/
From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *mai. Cognate with 目(ま) (ma, bound form). Now the modern Japanese term for eye.
Probably cognate with 見る (miru, “to see, to look”).
May also be cognate with 芽 (me, “bud, shoot”), perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense, and with suppositional / volitional verb suffix む (mu) (presenting in modern Japanese verb conjugations as the -ō or -yō endings), perhaps from the “seem like, look like” sense.

#### Alternative forms

* (non-productive, bound form)
** (prefixal) ま (ma)

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) め [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [me̞]

#### Noun

め • (me)
* [from 712] 目, 眼: eye
    目(め)がかゆいです。
       Me ga kayui desu.
       My eyes feel itchy.
    眠(ねむ)そうな目(め)をする、眠(ねむ)そうな目(め)をこする
       nemusō na me o suru, nemusō na me o kosuru
       to have a sleepy look on one's face (eyes that look sleepy), to rub sleepy eyes
* [from 720] 目: visually prominent feature of something:
** [from 720] 目: small hole, like those inherent to a net-like material (between the warp and the weft)
    Hyponym: おりめ (orime)
    ミシン目(め)
       mishin-me
       perforation
    細(ほそ)目・荒(め・あら)目(め)
       hosome arame
       small hole; large hole
** [from 759] 目: short for 賽の目 (sai no me, “dice pip”).
*** 2015 January 10, “悪(あく)魔(ま)のサイコロ [Demon’s Die]”, in 決闘者の栄光 －記憶の断片－ side：武藤遊戯 [Duelist Road －Piece of Memory－ side: Mutō Yūgi], Konami:
    ①(いち)：サイコロを１(いっ)回(かい)振(ふ)る。相(あい)手(て)フィールドのモンスターの攻(こう)撃(げき)力・守(りょく・しゅ)備(び)力(りょく)は、ターン終(しゅう)了(りょう)時(じ)まで出(で)た目(め)の数(かず)×(かける)100( ひゃく)ダウンする。
       Ichi: Saikoro o ikkai furu. Aite fīrudo no monsutā no kōgekiryoku shubiryoku wa, tān shūryōji made deta me no kazu kakeru hyaku daun suru.
       1: Roll a die once. Until the end of this turn, the attack and defense strength of the monsters on your opponent’s field decreases by the result ×100.
*** 2015 September 19, “サイコロン [Dicyclone]”, in STRUCTURE DECK R　－真帝王降臨－ [STRUCTURE DECK R －Advent of the True Sovereign－], Konami:
    ①(いち)：サイコロを１(いっ)回(かい)振(ふ)り、出(で)た目(め)の効(こう)果(か)を適(てき)用(よう)する。
       Ichi: Saikoro o ikkai furi, deta me no kōka o tekiyō suru.
       1: Roll a die once, then apply an effect accordingly to the result.
** [from late 900s] 目: (by extension) experience
    Synonym: 体験
    痛(いた)い目(め)に遭(あ)う
       itai me ni au
       to go through something terrible
    酷(ひど)い目(め)に遭(あ)う
       hidoi me ni au
       to meet a terrible fate
    大変(たいへん)な目(め)に遭(あ)う
       taihen na me ni au
       experience something serious

##### Derived terms

* 目(め)垢(あか) (meaka, “eye gunk”)
* 眼(め)医(い)者(しゃ) (meisha, “an eye doctor”)
* 眼(め)鏡(がね) (megane, “glasses”)
* 目(め)糞(くそ) (mekuso), 目(め)屎(くそ) (mekuso, “eye gunk”)
* 盲(めくら) (mekura, “blindness”)
* 目(め)尻(じり) (mejiri, “the corner of an eye”)
* 目(め)玉(だま) (medama, “eyeball”)
* 目付(めつ)き (metsuki, “look#Noun, expression of the eyes”)
* 目(め)脂(やに) (meyani, “eye gunk”)
* 赤(あか)目(め) (akame, “red eyes”)
* 片(かた)目(め) (katame, “one eye”)
* 生(き)真(ま)面(じ)目(め) (kimajime, “person who is too serious”)
* 黒(くろ)目(め) (kurome, “black iris, an eye with large pupils or irises”)
* 血(ち)眼(め) (chime, “bloodshot eyes”)
* 近(ちか)眼(め) (chikame, “nearsightedness”)
* 茶(ちゃ)目(め) (chame, “playfulness”)
* 猫(ねこ)目(め)石(いし) (nekomeishi, “cat's eye (jewel)”)
* パンダ目(め) (pandame, “black eye”)
* 一(ひと)目(め) (hitome)
* 雪(ゆき)目(め) (yukime, “snow blindness”)
* 横(よこ)目(め) (yokome, “sidelong glance”)

#### Suffix

め • (-me)
* [from early 1400s] 目: -st, -nd, -rd, or -th, for ordinal numbers (e.g. 8th or eighth, 9th or ninth)
    三本(さんぼん)目(め)のボトル
       sanbon-me no botoru
       third bottle
* [from late 1800s] 目: visually prominent feature of something
    結(むす)び目(め)、編(あ)み目(め)、効(き)き目(め)
       musubime, amime, kikime
       knot (literally, “tying + [visual feature]”), stitch (literally, “knitting + [visual feature]”), effect or efficacy (literally, “working, having an effect + [visual feature]”)
* め: (attached to verb or i-adjective roots to produce na-adjectives, not productive with verbs) to a more exaggerated degree
    ‎多い (ooi) + ‎め (-me) → ‎多め (oome)
    ‎控える (hikaeru) + ‎め (-me) → ‎控えめ (hikaeme)

### Etymology 3

* Alternative spelling
* 芽
From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.
Possibly cognate with 目・眼 (me), perhaps from the “visually prominent feature” sense of that term.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) め [méꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
* IPA: [me̞]

#### Noun

め • (me)
* [from 712] 芽: bud, sprout, shoot
* [from 1922] 芽: the germ of an idea, an inkling
* [date unknown] 芽: (biology) a bird embryo: more specifically, as found on the yolk of an egg, the blastodisk, the germinal disk, the embryonic disk
    Synonym: 胚盤 (haiban)

### Etymology 4

* Alternative spelling
* 奴 (uncommon)
First cited to The Tale of the Heike from the early 1300s.
Might be a shift in usage of 目 (me, “visually prominent feature”). The 奴 spelling does not appear to be common, and this is not included in all dictionaries.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [me̞]
    (pitch accent depends on the entire suffixed word)

#### Suffix

め • (-me)
* [from early 1300s] 奴: derogatory suffix attached to people's names or words that refer to people, animals, etc.
    ばか奴(め)！
       Baka-me!
       Idiot!
** 1910 [1901], Leonid Andreyev, translated by Mori Ōgai, Inu [Dog]‎, translation of Snapper:
    「来(こ)いといったら来(こ)い。シュッチュカ奴(め)。馬(ば)鹿(か)な奴(やつ)だ。己(おの)れはどうもしやしない。」
       “Koi to ittara koi. Shutchuka-me. Baka na yatsu da. Onore wa dōmo shi ya shinai.”
       "If I say come, come. Silly Žučka. You fool. I won't do anything to you."

### References

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
* 1 2 3 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN