Japanese
| Kanji in this term
|
| 妹
|
背
|
いも Grade: 2
|
せ Grade: 6
|
| kun'yomi
|
Etymology
妹 (imo, “sister; wife”) + 背 (se, “brother; husband”). Imo comes first likely to avoid hiatus in Old Japanese.
Pronunciation
Noun
妹背 • (imose)
- (archaic) sister(s) and brother(s)
- Hyponyms: 兄姉 (keishi, “big bro and big sis”), 兄妹 (keimai, “big bro and little sis”), 姉弟 (shitei, “big sis and little bro”), 弟妹 (teimai, “little bro and little sis”)
- (archaic) synonym of 夫婦 (fūfu, “married couple”)