しゃみせん

Japanese

For pronunciation and definitions of しゃみせん – see the following entry.

【三味線】 [noun] [from 1580] a Japanese stringed instrument played by plucking, vaguely similar to a banjo [noun] [after 1780] short for 三味線草 (shamisen-gusa): the shepherd's purse, Capsella bursa-pastoris [noun] [after 1780] from 三味線を弾く (shamisen o hiku, literally “to play the shamisen”): words or actions intended to deceive one's opponent in a game or competition [noun] [from 1930] (academia, slang) a grade of 甲 (kō, highest mark, equivalent to an “A” in US schools) (from the vague visual similarity between the character 甲 and the shape of the shamisen)

(This term, しゃみせん (shamisen), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)