百合

Chinese

hundred
to close; to gather; to join
to close; to gather; to join; to fit; all; together
 
simp. and trad.
(百合)

Etymology

Named “hundred-union”, for the numerous segmented and overlapping scales on the bulb of the lily. The lily is traditionally a propitious sign of a blissful, long-lasting marriage; see the idiom 百年好合 (bǎiniánhǎohé).

The sense “yuri; lesbian” is a semantic loan and an orthographic borrowing from Japanese 百合 (yuri).

Pronunciation


Note: iú-lih - borrowed from Japanese 百合(ゆり) (yuri).

Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/2
Initial () (1) (33)
Final () (113) (160)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () II I
Fanqie
Baxter paek hop
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/pˠæk̚/ /ɦʌp̚/
Pan
Wuyun
/pᵚak̚/ /ɦəp̚/
Shao
Rongfen
/pak̚/ /ɣɒp̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/paɨjk̚/ /ɦəp̚/
Li
Rong
/pɐk̚/ /ɣᴀp̚/
Wang
Li
/pɐk̚/ /ɣɒp̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/pɐk̚/ /ɣăp̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
bo
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
bak1 hap6

Noun

百合

  1. lily (flower or bulb)
  2. (ACG slang) yuri; lesbianism

Synonyms

  • (lily flower):

Derived terms

  • 偽百合 / 伪百合
  • 大葉野百合 / 大叶野百合
  • 恆春野百合 / 恒春野百合
  • 法國百合 / 法国百合 (Fǎguó bǎihé)
  • 洋百合 (yángbǎihé)
  • 海百合
  • 百合侶 / 百合侣
  • 百合情侶 / 百合情侣
  • 百合病
  • 百合粉
  • 百合花 (bǎihéhuā)
  • 真百合
  • 聖誕百合 / 圣诞百合
  • 脊百合
  • 車百合 / 车百合
  • 輕百合 / 轻百合
  • 野百合

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (百合):
  • Korean: 백합(百合) (baekhap)
  • Vietnamese: bách hợp (百合)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
ゆり
Grade: 1 Grade: 2
jukujikun

Probably the nominalization of the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, continuative or stem form) of classical verb 揺る (yuru, to sway, to swing, to wave back and forth), from the way that lilies tend to grow tall and sway in the breeze.

The spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese 百合 (bǎihé), indicating the way that lily bulbs cluster together合わす (awasu, to gather, combine)—in large numbers, as in (hyaku, literally hundred).

For information on the slang for homosexuality, see Yuri (genre).

Pronunciation

Noun

百合(ゆり) or 百合(ユリ) • (yuri

  1. lily
  2. a style of 襲の色目 (kasane no irome, color scheme of layering garments), featuring a red outer layer and a reddish-gold inner layer, and worn in summer (from the way the color scheme resembles the coloration of the petals of certain varieties of lily)
  3. (slang) yuri, manga or other media depicting attraction, romance, romantic friendship or sexual relationship between women, usually lesbians
    • 2015 February 25, “Dansei ga ‘yuri’ (gāruzurabu) ni moeru riyū [The reason men enjoy ‘yuri’ (girls love)]”, in Mainabi News[1]:
      だったらむしろ、レズビアンや百合(ゆり)のほうが(たの)しめるというわけなんです。(だん)(せい)百合(ゆり)()えるのは、(せい)(たい)するファンタジーなのかもしれません。
      Dattara mushiro, rezubian ya yuri no hō ga tanoshimeru to iu wake nan desu. Dansei ga yuri ni moeru no wa, sei ni taisuru fantajī na no kamoshiremasen.
      If that's the case, it seems to be the reason that they enjoy lesbians or yuri. That a man fancies yuri, it is likely a sexual fantasy.
Derived terms
Descendants

Proper noun

百合(ゆり) • (Yuri

  1. a female given name

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
ひゃく > びゃく
Grade: 1
ごう
Grade: 2
goon

Noun

(びゃく)(ごう) • (byakugō

  1. (traditional Chinese medicine) dried lily bulbs used in medicine

References

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

Korean

Hanja in this term

Noun

百合 • (baekhap) (hangeul 백합)

  1. hanja form? of 백합 (lily)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Noun

百合

  1. chữ Hán form of bách hợp (Lilium pumilum)