妙

みょう · myou · JLPT N3 · na-adj

strange

🐱 妙 = 女 woman + 少 few; myou sounds like a cat's odd meow

妙 first meant exquisite or subtle. In Japanese, 妙 (myou) also means strange, as in 奇妙 (kimyou, bizarre). Hook: a cat's meow at 3 a.m. is myou: strange.

妙 — woman radical 女 + few 少
妙 is a semantic-phonetic compound. 女 (woman) suggests delicacy or beauty, while 少 (few/young) provides the sound and hints at youthful slenderness. The original sense was 'subtle, delicate, exquisite,' later extending to 'wonderful' or 'marvelous.'

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