三行半

Japanese

Kanji in this term
三	行	半
み Grade: 1	くだり Grade: 2	はん Grade: 2
kun'yomi		on'yomi

Alternative forms

• 三下り半

Etymology

Literally "three and a half lines". During the Edo period, a husband could divorce his wife by writing a formalized note consisting of three fixed lines of text.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) みくだりはん [mìkúdáríháꜜǹ] (Nakadaka – [5])
• IPA^(key): [mʲikɯ̟da̠ɾʲihã̠ɴ]

Noun

三(み)行(くだり)半(はん) • (mikudarihan) 

1. a letter of divorce given from a husband to a wife
2. divorce

See also

• 離(り)婚(こん) (rikon)
• 離(り)婚(こん)状(じょう) (rikonjō)