天鈿女

Japanese

Kanji in this term
天	鈿	女
あめ(の) Grade: 1	うず Hyōgaiji (ateji)	め Grade: 1
kun’yomi	irregular	kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
天宇受売

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese, shift from the older and previously more prevalent (and still current) reading Ama no uzume, itself a compound of 天 (ama, “heaven”) +‎ の (no, genitive particle) +‎ 鈿女 (uzume). The derivation of the uzume element is uncertain; it might be from uzu (the term used to refer to a sprig of flowers used as a hair decoration in certain Shinto rituals, as used by the goddess) + 女 (me, “woman, female”). This may be reflected in the kanji spelling, where 鈿 is the character for hairpin.

The goddess is mentioned in both the Kojiki of 712 and the Nihon Shoki of 720.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠me̞ no̞ ɯ̟ᵝzɨᵝme̞]

Proper noun

天(あめの)鈿(うず)女(め) • (Ame no Uzume) 

1. [from early 700s] (Shinto, Japanese mythology) a goddess who performed a merry ritual dance to entertain the gods of heaven, to lure 天照 (Amaterasu) out of the cave 天岩戸 (Ama no Iwato)

   天(あまの)鈿(うず)女(めの)命(みこと)

   Ama no Uzume no Mikoto

   the Augustness of Ama no Uzume

Usage notes

Both readings Ame no Uzume and Ama no Uzume are both in use in modern texts. The Ame no Uzume reading appears to be more common in modern usage, while Ama no Uzume appears to be more common in ancient usage.

Etymology 2

Older reading of Ame no uzume. Still in use, but less common.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠ma̠ no̞ ɯ̟ᵝzɨᵝme̞]

Proper noun

天鈿女(あまのうずめ) • (Ama no Uzume) 

1. [from early 700s] (less common) alternative reading for Ame no Uzume