Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One of a class of professional women in Japan trained from girlhood in conversation, dancing, and singing in order to entertain professional or social gatherings of men.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of a class of accomplished and specially trained young Japanese women (commonly called singing- or dancing-girls by foreigners) who are employed at banquets, and on social, convivial, and other occasions, to entertain the company with Japanese dancing, music, etc.
Wiktionary
- n. A Japanese female entertainer skilled in various arts such as tea ceremony, dancing, singing and calligraphy.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A Japanese singing and dancing girl, trained to provide entertainment and company for a man or group of men.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a Japanese woman trained to entertain men with conversation and singing and dancing
Etymologies
- Japanese : gei, art (from Middle Chinese ŋejh) + sha, person (from Middle Chinese tšiaʔ).
Examples
“The word geisha means “arts person” and the geisha is trained in the art of intriguing men with her most effective tool—her mind.”
“In his letter to Chiyo, Mr. Tanaka says The training of a geisha is an arduous path.”
“To my mind, a first-class geisha is more analogous to a kept mistress in our culture than to a prostitute.”
“Say the word geisha and images of beautiful kimono-clad women serving green tea, reciting poetry and playing classical instruments may spring to mind.”
“Zaib Qayyum of River Oaks School correctly spelled the word geisha after only 10 rounds of competition Friday to secure the win at the All-Parish Spelling Bee sponsored by The News-Star.”
“i want to be a china doll. when i had dark hair, i was often referred to as a geisha (once). the right side of my body will be outfitted in an evening dress and the left side of my body will be covered in a gingham print.”
“The most stereotyped image of Japanese women is, of course, that of the geisha, and the most common misperception is that a geisha is a prostitute.”
“These are the communities where the professionally trained female artists known as geisha live and work.”
“The geisha was the youngest and prettiest of the bunch.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘geisha’.
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Realia from Everywhere
Culturally defined terms and expressions from the four corners of the world
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My first ever list. Ever.
Well, trust me for this list to be rubbish and nooby, ah well. Im starting. *Cuts ribbon*
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