頬

See also: 頰 and 颊

頬 U+982C, 頬 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-982C ← 頫 [U+982B] CJK Unified Ideographs 頭 → [U+982D]

Translingual

Traditional	頰
Shinjitai (extended)	頬
Simplified	颊

Glyph origin

Japanese shinjitai Simplified from 頰 (夾 → 夹).

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声) : phonetic 夹 () + semantic 頁 (“head”) – part of the head.

Han character

頬 (Kangxi radical 181, 頁+6, 15 strokes, cangjie input 大廿一月金 (KTMBC), composition ⿰夹頁)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: not present, would follow page 1404, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): not present, would follow volume 7, page 4367, character 16
• Unihan data for U+982C

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 頬 – see 頰 (“cheek”). (This character is a variant form of 頰).

Japanese

Shinjitai (extended)	頬
Kyūjitai	頰

Kanji

頬

(Hyōgai kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 頰)

1. Extended shinjitai form of 頰: cheeks

Readings

• Go-on: きょう (kyō)^{←けふ (kefu, historical)}
• Kan-on: きょう (kyō)^{←けふ (kefu, historical)}
• Kun: ほお (hō, 頬)^{←ほほ (fofo, 頬, historical)}、ほほ (hoho, 頬)^{←ほほ (fofo, 頬, historical)}、つら (tsura, 頬)
• Nanori: かわ (kawa)、すえみつ (suemitsu)、すえもと (suemoto)、つら (tsura)、のりみち (norimichi)、ほほ (hoho)

Compounds

• 頬髭(ほおひげ) (hōhige)
• 面頬(めんぽう) (menpō)

Usage notes

The kyūjitai form 頰 was added to the Jōyō kanji list in 2010. This character form remains in common use.

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
頬
ほほ Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
頰 (kyūjitai)

/popo/ → /fofo/ → /hoho/

From Old Japanese. Appears in the mid-Heian period dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō (938 CE).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ほほ [hóꜜhò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ho̞ho̞]

Noun

頬(ほほ) • (hoho) 

1. (anatomy) cheek (the side of the face)

Derived terms

• 微笑(ほほえ)む (hohoemu)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
頬
ほお Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
頰 (kyūjitai)

[ho̞ho̞] → [ho̞ː]

Derived from hoho above.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ほお [hóꜜò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ho̞ː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

頬(ほお) • (hō) ^{←ほほ (fofo)?}

1. (anatomy) cheek

Usage notes

The reading hō is more common when used as a standalone noun.

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
頬
つら Hyōgai
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
頰 (kyūjitai)

Of same origin as 列 (tsura, “a string or lineup of things”). Extending from the meaning of "lineup", the meaning changed to indicate the side of the items lined up. In reference to people, this came to mean the cheeks as the side of the face, and then by extension the face as a whole.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) つら [tsùráꜜ] (Odaka – [2])
• IPA^(key): [t͡sɨɾa̠]

Noun

頬(つら) • (tsura) 

1. the cheeks
2. the face (usually written 面)
3. one's facial expression
4. the side of something
5. the surface or front of something
6. one's honor: "face" as in save face or lose face

Alternative forms

• 面

Synonyms

• (face of a person): 顔(かお) (kao)
• (facial expression): 顔(かお)つき (kaotsuki), 表(ひょう)情(じょう) (hyōjō)
• (face, front): 面(おもて) (omote)
• (side): 側(がわ) (gawa), 傍(かたわ)ら (katawara)
• (surface, front): 表(おもて) (omote)
• (honor): 体(たい)面(めん) (taimen), 面(めん)目(ぼく) (menboku), 面(めん)子(つ) (mentsu)

Etymology 4

Used as ateji in various names.

Proper noun

頬(すえみつ) • (Suemitsu) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

頬(すえもと) • (Suemoto) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

頬(のりみち) • (Norimichi) 

1. a male given name