妹背

Japanese

Kanji in this term
妹	背
いも Grade: 2	せ Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 妹兄

Etymology

妹 (imo, “sister; wife”) +‎ 背 (se, “brother; husband”). Imo comes first likely to avoid hiatus in Old Japanese.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いもせ [ìmósé] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) い​もせ [íꜜmòsè] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [imo̞se̞]

Noun

妹(いも)背(せ) • (imose) 

1. (archaic) sister(s) and brother(s)

   Hyponyms: 兄姉 (keishi, “big bro and big sis”), 兄妹 (keimai, “big bro and little sis”), 姉弟 (shitei, “big sis and little bro”), 弟妹 (teimai, “little bro and little sis”)

2. (archaic) Synonym of 夫婦 (fūfu, “married couple”)