Kanji
御
(Jōyō kanji)
- an honorific prefix, indicates respect, your[1]
- royal, imperial, godly
- control
- govern
- protect
Readings
- Go-on: ご (go, Jōyō)
- Kan-on: ぎょ (gyo, Jōyō)
- Kun: おん (on, 御, Jōyō); お (o, 御); おおん (ōn, 御)←おほん (ofon, 御, historical)←おほみ (ofomi, 御, ancient); み (mi, 御); おさめる (osameru, 御める)←をさめる (wosameru, 御める, historical)
As variant kanji of 禦:
Etymology 1
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/oɴ/ → /o/
Shift from on- below.[2][3]
Already apparent since the 14th century.
Prefix
御 • (o-)
- indicates that the [word] is honorific; often used to indicate that the [word] belongs or is related to the listener (as opposed to the speaker)
Usage notes
Not to be confused with 大 (ō-, “great”), which is a less-commonly used prefix.
Almost exclusively written in hiragana, to disambiguate with the heteronyms below.
Prefixed to the native Japanese words, as in 御水 (o-mizu, “water”) (words read with kun'yomi). However, there are numerous exceptions such as お弁当 (o-bentō) and お電話 (o-denwa). In old use, prefixed short women's names regardless of the type of reading, for example お菊 (o-Kiku), おしん (o-Shin), お仙 (o-Sen), お妙 (o-Tae), etc. For 外来語 (gairaigo, “(non-Chinese) foreign loan words”), this prefix is seldom used, but somewhat preferred in the jargon of some kinds of industry, as in おビール (o-bīru, “beer”).
Usage varies between speakers, situations, and gender – more polite speech, especially by women, features more use of this prefix, while blunt speech, especially by men, uses it less or not at all (words where the prefix has become mandatory are replaced by blunter terms that do not have the prefix). In rare cases a prefixed term has become impolite, as in 御前 (omae, “you (familiar or derogatory)”).
Etymology 2
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/oɸomʉ/ → /owomʉ/ → /oːɴ/ → /oɴ/
Early-Late Middle Japanese shift from ōn- below.[2]
Prefix
御 • (on-)
- indicates that the [word] is honorific; often used to indicate that the [word] belongs or is related to the listener (as opposed to the speaker)
Derived terms
Derived terms
- 御一字 (on-ichiji)
- 御校 (onkō)
- 御師 (onshi)
- 御衣 (onzo)
- 御族 (onzō)
- 御曹司 (onzōshi), 御曹子 (onzōshi)
- 御大 (ontai)
- 御中 (onchū)
- 御柱祭 (Onbashira Matsuri)
- 御服 (onbuku)
- 御祭 (Onmatsuri)
- 御身 (onmi)
- 御申し (onmōshi)
Etymology 3
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⟨opomi1⟩ → */opomʲɨ/*/əpəmʲɨ/ → /oɸomʉ/ → /owoɴ/ → /oːɴ/
First attested in the Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE), as man'yōgana form 於保无 (opomu- → ōmu-) within 於保无太加良 (opomutakara → ōmutakara, “people”, as a kun reading of 人民).
Shift from Old Japanese 大御 (⟨opomi1⟩ → ōmi-, prefix of maximum honorific).
Both ōmu- and ōn- readings likely existed in free variation until the development of the ん (n) grapheme.
Prefix
御 • (ōn-) ←おほん (ofon)?
(alternative reading hiragana おおむ, rōmaji ōmu-, historical hiragana おほむ)
- (obsolete) indicates that the [word] is honorific; often used to indicate that the [word] belongs or is related to the listener (as opposed to the speaker)
Derived terms
- 御時 (ōntoki)
- 御身 (ōnmi)
Etymology 4
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⟨mi1⟩ → */mʲi/ → /mi/
From Old Japanese.
Cognate with 霊, 神 (mi, “spirit, god”), as this prefix was originally used to refer to gods and other spiritually important things.
- (honorific emphasizing beauty): 美, 深
Prefix
御 • (mi-)
- (honorific, archaic) added to gods and other spiritually important things
- (honorific, archaic) added to nouns to indicate godlike respect
- (honorific, archaic) added to placenames to emphasize beauty
Derived terms
Derived terms
- 御明 (miakashi, “oil lamp lit for Shinto or Buddhist purposes”)
- 御厳 (mi-itsu), 御稜威 (mi-itsu)
- 御食 (mike, “offering of food to a god or spirit”)
- 御子 (miko, “shrine maiden”)
- 御輿 (mikoshi), 神輿 (mikoshi, “portable shrine”)
- 尊 (mikoto), 命 (mikoto, title used for gods and emperors, and other exalted personages)
- 御坂 (misaka)
- 御簾 (misu)
- 御族 (mizō)
- 御台盤所 (mi-daibandokoro)
- 御手洗 (mitarashi)
- 道 (michi), 路 (michi), 途 (michi), 径 (michi)
- 峰 (mine)
- 御仏 (mihotoke)
- 御許 (mimoto, location of a god, Buddha, emperor, or other object of reverence)
- 御座 (mimashi, presence of a god, Buddha, emperor, or other object of reverence)
- 宮 (miya)
- 御息所 (miyasudokoro)
- 御吉野 (mi-Yoshino)
- お御 (omi-)
Usage notes
Primarily for the religious words, pertaining to gods or the emperor, as in 御輿 (mikoshi, “portable shrine”). However, in this context it is often replaced by 神 ("god", also pronounced mi-), and then a further 御 (o-) may be added, as in 御神輿 (o-mikoshi). The mi- prefix also became merged into other kanji, as in 宮 (miya, “imperial palace”).
Etymology 5
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From Middle Chinese 御 (MC ngjoH).
The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.
Prefix
御 • (go-)
- indicates that the [word] is honorific; often used to indicate that the [word] belongs or is related to the listener (as opposed to the speaker)
Usage notes
Prefixed to the Sino-Japanese words, as in 御主人 (goshujin, “husband”).
While in general this prefix is optional, in many cases it is so commonly used that the base word can no longer be used in isolation, as in 御飯 (gohan, “rice”) – the form ×飯 (*han) is not used alone, though it can be used as parts of compounds (such as 炊飯, suihan, “rice cooking”), and the character can be read in isolation as meshi.
It may also be used with modern foreign borrowings.
- 本日はニコニコ動画に御アクセス頂き、ありがとうございます。
- Honjitsu wa Nikoniko Dōga ni go-akusesu-itadaki, arigatō gozaimasu.
- Thank you for accessing Niconico today.
ご (go-) also appears with a limited number of native words such as ごゆっくり (go-yukkuri) and ごもっとも (go-mottomo).
Etymology 6
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Short form of 御前 (gozen, “noble person”).
Etymology 7
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From Middle Chinese 御 (MC ngjoH).
The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.
- (horseriding, coachman): 馭
Prefix
御 • (gyo-)
- prefixed to make an honorific kanji compound, especially used to indicate that the [word] belongs or is related to the emperor and/or the equivalents
Suffix
御 • (-gyo)
- suffixed to make an honorific kanji compound which means the action belongs or is related to the emperor and/or the equivalents
Derived terms
- 還御 (kangyo)
- 渡御 (togyo)
- 崩御 (hōgyo)