二枚目

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
二	枚	目
に Grade: 1	まい Grade: 6	め Grade: 1
goon		kun'yomi

The literal sense is a compound of 二 (ni, “two”) +‎ 枚 (mai, counter for flat things) +‎ 目 (me, ordinal marker), literally “second sheet, second flat thing”. The idiomatic usage arose from a convention during the Edo Period wherein a kabuki play's handsome character would be listed second on signboards.^[1]^[2]

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) にまいめ [nìmáíméꜜ] (Odaka – [4])^[2]
IPA^(key): [ɲ̟ima̠ime̞]

Noun

二(に)枚(まい)目(め) • (nimaime)

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 二,‎ 枚,‎ 目. (the second sheet or other flat thing)
a handsome male character, especially one that gets involved in a romance during the story
(by extension) a handsome man, a male love interest

Derived terms

二枚目半(にまいめはん) (nimaime-han, “a comic character who is also the male love interest”, literally “second-and-a-half sheet”)

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[1]

[2]