The Meaning of hige [髭] In Japanese

髭
ひげ
Romaji: hige N4

What does 髭 mean?

Translation and Meaning

beard, moustache, facial hair

Definition

What does 髭 (hige) mean? It denotes facial hair — the hair that grows on a person’s face (upper lip, chin, cheeks or jawline) and is used to describe appearance, grooming or the presence/absence of such hair in everyday speech.

Type

noun (名詞)

Stroke Order

Meanings

  • Short, rough stubble specifically referring to recent regrowth after shaving.
  • Whiskers on animals (used colloquially to refer to a cat’s or dog’s whiskers).
  • Used in compound terms to indicate hair at a specific location (e.g., nose or chin-related compounds).
  • Can refer to particular facial-hair styles or the general idea of facial hair when discussing fashion or grooming.

Etymology

髭 (hige) is a native Japanese (wago) lexical item attested in classical texts; its phonetic form has been stable from Old Japanese to modern Japanese, and the kanji was later assigned to represent the established spoken word.

Origin

References to facial hair appear in early Japanese records and art; hairstyling and facial-hair fashions shifted across periods (e.g., elite court styles in classical eras, distinct samurai moustaches and goatees in medieval and early modern Japan), with modern grooming influenced by Western styles from the Meiji period onward.

Composition

The character 髭 is built around the ‘hair’ radical (髟) that signals meanings related to hair, combined with a phonetic component that historically indicates the reading hige, together denoting hair located on the face.

Usage

Common in everyday and descriptive language when talking about personal appearance, barbers, cosmetics, or grooming habits; typically neutral and colloquial in conversation, written as 髭 (hige) in formal/contextual writing but often as ひげ in casual text, and commonly combined with verbs meaning ‘to grow’ or ‘to shave’ when describing action.
💡 Tips
Mnemonic: remember hige as ‘he’s got a’ — “he’s got a beard” to link the sound hige with facial hair.

Variations

  • 口ひげ (kuchihige) — moustache (upper-lip hair)
  • 顎髭 (agohige) — chin beard
  • 無精ひげ (bushouhige) — stubble, unkempt facial hair
  • 髯 (hige) — variant kanji sometimes seen for facial hair
髭