Japanese Symbol for

musume

daughter · girl · young woman

Readings

  • KUNむすめmusume
  • POLITEおじょうさんojōsan
  • FORMALれいじょうreijō

Meaning

Daughter, girl, young woman. 娘 (musume) is the everyday word for daughter. お嬢さん (ojōsan) is the polite/respectful form — also used to mean "young lady" generally. 令嬢 (reijō) is a formal literary term.

お嬢さん

ojōsan

daughter, young lady (polite)

令嬢

reijō

daughter, young woman (formal)

少女

shōjo

girl, maiden, young lady

娘さん

musume-san

your/someone's daughter

一人娘

hitori-musume

only daughter

孫娘

mago-musume

granddaughter

お嬢様 (ojōsama) — the ultra-polite version of "young lady" — is used in Japanese fiction to describe sheltered, wealthy young women. 少女 (shōjo) means young girl or maiden, and gives its name to the shōjo manga genre — comics aimed at teenage girls, famous for romance and emotional storytelling.

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