人形
Meaning in Englishdoll, figure
Animated kanji stroke order
Related sentences
Related sentences
There are no published items in this section yet.
Word context
What it means
人形 (ningyō) means a man-made figure representing a human; in everyday Japanese it refers to objects made or fashioned to look like people and used as toys, decorative figures, or performance puppets, characterized by deliberate human form and often crafted for play, display, ritual, or theatrical manipulation.
Main meanings
- 1. A theatrical puppet specifically manipulated in stage arts such as bunraku (ningyō used in traditional puppet theater).
- 2. A mechanical or automaton-type figure (karakuri-style devices historically called ningyō).
- 3. A collectible or display figurine distinct from playthings, valued for craftsmanship or cultural representation.
- 4. A store or shop mannequin used to display clothing and accessories.
- 5. A figurative sense meaning a person who is controlled by others, comparable to the English 'puppet' in metaphorical use.
How to use it
The word is used across contexts from casual (referring to children's toys or souvenirs) to specialized (museum, craft, or theatre language when discussing puppetry and ceremonial dolls); it appears in names of festivals, art forms, shop signage for mannequins, and everyday descriptions of ornaments — register shifts come from context and modifiers rather than the noun itself.
Variants and close terms
- ぬいぐるみ (nuigurumi) — stuffed toy, plush doll
- 操り人形 (ayatsuri ningyō) — manipulated puppet, marionette
- マネキン (manekin) — mannequin (shop display)
- フィギュア (figyua) — collectible figure, figurine
- 人間 (ningen) — human (contrast/antonym in metaphorical uses)
Composition
- 人 (hito / jin / nin) — person, human.
- 形 (katachi / kei / gyō) — shape, form.
- The two characters combine to convey a 'person-shaped' object: a form or shape that resembles a human, which is the semantic basis for the modern word.
Origin
Figurative and crafted human representations have long existed in Japan; ritual and votive figures appear in ancient periods, while courtly dolls developed by the Heian era and regional craft traditions expanded in medieval times; by the Edo period mechanically operated ningyō and puppet-theater ningyō (bunraku) were established cultural forms, and festival dolls such as those used for Hina Matsuri became common household cultural objects.
Word class
noun (名詞)