美人

Noun

 * 1) beautiful woman; beauty; lovely lady
 * 2)  royal consort

Etymology 1
From. Compare modern 🇨🇬 reading bí-jîn.

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Noun

 * 1) a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle
 * 2) a handsome man
 * 3)  an ideal ruler or sage, worthy of one's love and respect
 * 4)  in ancient, the fifth of fourteen ranks for imperial ladies-in-waiting
 * 5)  a euphemism for a rainbow
 * 1)  a euphemism for a rainbow

Usage notes
The beautiful woman sense is the most common in everyday use.

Derived terms

 * : a beauty pageant, a beauty contest
 * : a genre of pictures, depicting feminine beauty; a picture of this genre
 * : a large and deep umbrella that was fashionable in the late
 * : the 🇨🇬-derived alternate for, a variety of plantain of family
 * : alternate name for :, a field poppy or corn poppy

Idioms

 * : “even a beautiful person only has one skin” → beauty is only skin deep
 * : “a beautiful person doesn't have an age” → a beautiful person often looks young no matter their age
 * : “the end of [being] a beautiful person is turning into a monkey” → a beautiful woman becomes less beautiful as she ages
 * : “even if you don't say that someone is beautiful, there's no hiding it” → if someone is beautiful, it's obvious
 * : “a beautiful person has a thin [i.e. short] life” → beauty often doesn't last

Etymology 2
Compound of.

The kanji spelling for the kaoyo portion of the reading is an example of jukujikun.

Noun

 * 1)  a beautiful woman, a beauty, a belle