生身
Meaning in Englishliving flesh, flesh and blood, the quick
Animated kanji stroke order
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Word context
What it means
生身 means the living, physical body; the person themselves in the flesh, as opposed to nonphysical presence such as a ghost or avatar. It foregrounds corporeal existence and direct, in-person embodiment.
Main meanings
- the living body, the physical self as distinct from mind or spirit
- one's own body or person, especially emphasizing embodiment in the moment
- flesh and blood; tangible, corporeal existence
How to use it
Used in philosophical, medical, religious, and everyday contexts to refer to the physical body or to emphasize being the person themselves in flesh; commonly appears in 生身の X structures to indicate immediate presence or embodiment.
Variants and close terms
- namami (なまみ) — pronunciation
- nikutai (にくたい) — body, flesh; a related term with similar meaning
- jintai (じんたい) — human body; related term
- reitai (れいたい) — spiritual body; antonym in some contexts
Composition
- 生: life, living
- 身: body, oneself
- the combination expresses a living, corporeal self
Etymology
phonetic evolution A native compound of 生 meaning life and 身 meaning body; the reading namami follows kun'yomi patterns, with 生 commonly read nama- in compounds and 身 read mi here, yielding namami; there is no foreign loanword integration.
Word class
Noun (Japanese noun)