目白

Japanese

Kanji in this term
目	白
め Grade: 1	しろ > じろ Grade: 1
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
眼白 繍眼児

Etymology

Compound of 目(め) (me, “eye”) + 白(しろ) (shiro, “white”).

The shiro changes to jiro as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) めじろ [mèjíró] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [me̞ʑiɾo̞]

Noun

目白: a Japanese white-eye feeding upon a white camellia (白玉椿, Camellia japonica)

目(め)白(じろ) or 目白(メジロ) • (mejiro) 

1. the Japanese white-eye, Zosterops japonicus

   haiku by Sekitei Hara (1886-1951)

   菜(な)畑(ばたけ)の　日和(ひより)をわたる　目(め)白(じろ)かな

   nabatake no, hiyori o wataru, mejiro kana

   In a field of green / passing a fine day / perhaps a white-eye

   Hypernym: 雀 (suzume)

2. a white-eye (any other passerine birds of the family Zosteropidae)

Derived terms

• 目(め)白(じろ)押(お)し (mejiro-oshi)
• 目(メ)白(ジロ)鮫(ザメ) (mejirozame)
• 目(め)白(じろ)通(どお)り (Mejiro-dōri)
• 目(メ)白(ジロ)酸漿(ホオズキ) (mejiro hōzuki)

Proper noun

目(め)白(じろ) • (Mejiro) 

1. a place name
2. a surname