What does “hime” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “hime” to mean ‘princess’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word well as it is sometimes used in Japanese movies, songs, novels, manga, anime, and the like. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji character. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “hime” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meaning of “hime”
Let me start with the definition and meaning of “hime”.
- hime – 姫 (ひめ) : a noun meaning ‘princess’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
Native speakers use this noun to refer to a daughter of a king and queen in Japanese. In addition, they sometimes use this as a metaphor for a girl or woman who looks or behaves like a princess.
The definition and meaning are very simple and clear, I think. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji character in detail.
Hime in kanji
The kanji character of “hime” consists of the following two parts:
- 女 : a kanji character widely used to mean ‘woman’ or ‘women’ in Japanese. This kanji can also be found in other words like “josei” and “musume“.
- 臣 : a kanji character used to refer to those who obey a king.
From these two parts, we can understand that “hime” literally means a ‘woman obeying a king’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is not completely in line with the meaning, but still very close, I think. Princesses often obey the king of their country. Of course, some don’t, though.
When we meet new kanji characters, we should check their kanji parts in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji parts tell us a lot about meanings of characters they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “hime” through the detailed check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “hime” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “princess” in Japanese
kanojo wa kono kuni no hime desu – 彼女はこの国の姫です (かのじょはこのくにのひめです)
She is a princess of this country.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “kanojo” to make the subject in the sentence.
- kono – この : a determiner used before a noun referring to a thing close to the speaker. In the example, this is used before “kuni” to say “this country” in Japanese.
- kuni – 国 (くに) : a noun meaning ‘country’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns or noun equivalent words. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this is used to join “kono kuni” and “hime”. The formed phrase literally means ‘a princess of this country’ in Japanese. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this case particle is similar to that of the English preposition, “of”.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “hime” to make it sound polite.
This is a typical usage of “hime”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “kono kuni no hime”, to say “a princess of this country” in Japanese. When we want to say “princess” in Japanese, anyway, this noun is a very good option.
Example #2: another usage of “hime”
kanojo wa boku tachi no gakkou no hime desu – 彼女は僕達の学校の姫です (かのじょはぼくたちのがっこうのひめです)
She is the princess of our school.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- boku – 僕 (ぼく) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese. This is used mainly by boys and young males.
- tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix used after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, this is used after “boku” to make its plural form, “boku tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, the first “no” is used after “boku tachi” to make its possessive case, “boku tachi no”, which means ‘our’ in Japanese.
- gakkou – 学校 (がっこう) : a noun meaning ‘school’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
This is another typical usage of “hime”. In this example, it works as a metaphor for a person behaving like a princess. It’s worth mentioning again that native speakers sometimes use “hime” as a metaphor for a woman or girl who looks or behaves like a princess. Sometimes this metaphor works in a good way and sometimes it works as sarcasm.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meaning of “hime” in detail based on its kanji character. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- hime – 姫 (ひめ) : a noun meaning ‘princess’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Native speakers use this noun to refer to a daughter of a king and queen in Japanese. In addition, they sometimes use this as a metaphor for a girl or woman who looks or behaves like a princess. Sometimes this metaphor works in a good way and sometimes it works as sarcasm. This kanji character literally means a ‘woman obeying a king’ in Japanese. This literal interpretation is not completely in line with the meaning, but still very close, I think. Princesses often obey the king of their country. Of course, some don’t, though.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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