萌える

Japanese

Kanji in this term
萌
も Jinmeiyō
kun’yomi

Etymology

/moju/ → /mojeru/ → /moeru/

From classical 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) verb 萌ゆ (moyu).

Derived from the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete or irrealis form”) and 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) 萌え (moe, likely parsed as moye) + る (-ru, verb suffix), thereby shifting to 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”).

Possibly cognate with 燃える (moeru, “to burn, be passionate, light ablaze”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) もえる [mòérú] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [mo̞e̞ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

Japanese verb pair
active	萌やす
mediopassive	萌える

萌(も)える • (moeru) intransitive ichidan (stem 萌(も)え (moe), past 萌(も)えた (moeta))

1. to bud, sprout

   Synonyms: 兆す (kizasu), 芽ぐむ (megumu)

2. to be aroused (especially sexually)
3. (by extension, slang) to feel or experience moé

   Synonym: ブヒる (buhiru)

   僕(ぼく)は、メイドさんや巫女(みこ)さんには萌(も)えない。

   Boku wa, meido-san ya miko-san ni wa moenai.

   I don’t feel anything towards maids and shrine maids.
   (Maids and shrine maids aren’t my type.)

   いまいち萌(も)えない娘(むすめ)

   Imaichi Moenai Musume

   Lacking-in-Moé-Girl

   (literally, “girl [towards which it is] kind of difficult to experience moé”)

Conjugation

Conjugation of "萌える" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	萌え	もえ	moe
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	萌え	もえ	moe
Shūshikei ("terminal")	萌える	もえる	moeru
Rentaikei ("attributive")	萌える	もえる	moeru
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	萌えれ	もえれ	moere
Meireikei ("imperative")	萌えよ¹ 萌えろ²	もえよ¹ もえろ²	moeyo¹ moero²
Key constructions
Passive	萌えられる	もえられる	moerareru
Causative	萌えさせる 萌えさす	もえさせる もえさす	moesaseru moesasu
Potential	萌えられる 萌えれる³	もえられる もえれる³	moerareru moereru³
Volitional	萌えよう	もえよう	moeyō
Negative	萌えない 萌えぬ 萌えん	もえない もえぬ もえん	moenai moenu moen
Negative continuative	萌えず	もえず	moezu
Formal	萌えます	もえます	moemasu
Perfective	萌えた	もえた	moeta
Conjunctive	萌えて	もえて	moete
Hypothetical conditional	萌えれば	もえれば	moereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative ³ Colloquial potential

Derived terms

• 萌(も)え立(た)つ (moetatsu)