양반

Korean

Alternative forms

• (North Korea) 량반 (ryangban)

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 兩班, from 兩 (“both”) + 班 (“groups”), referring to 문반 (文班, munban, “civil vassal”) and 무반 (武班, muban, “military vassal”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ja̠ŋba̠n]
• Phonetic hangul: [양반]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	yangban
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	yangban
McCune–Reischauer?	yangban
Yale Romanization?	yangpan

Noun

양반 • (yangban) (hanja 兩班)

1. (historical) civil nobility and military nobility [10th–13th c.]
2. (historical) yangban class in Korea [from 14th c.]
3. appellation to address a man
4. husband

Usage notes

• (appellation):
  • Used with an adjective: 점잖으신 양반 (jeomjaneusin yangban, “decent guy”), 바쁘신 양반 (bappeusin yangban, “busy man”)
  • Used with a noun: 신사양반 (sinsayangban, “gentleman”), 의사양반 (uisayangban, “doctor”)

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “historical class”):
  • 상놈 (sangnom, “a vulgar man”)
  • 쌍놈 (ssangnom, “a very vulgar man”)
  • 천민 (cheonmin, “lowest class”)
• (antonym(s) of “spouse”):
  • 안 사람 (an saram, “wife”)
  • 집 사람 (jip saram, “wife”)

Derived terms

• 바깥양반 (bakkatyangban, “husband”)
• 우리집 양반 (urijip yangban, “my old man”)
• 양반다리 (yangbandari, “crossed-leg”)