Etymology

bishonen

B3I1S1H4O1N1E1N1

Today it means: An Asian aesthetic of young men whose beauty (and sex appeal) transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation, found in manga, etc. Full definition →

Japanese 美少年 ← Middle Chinese 美
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The story

  1. Middle Chinese · derived from美“beautiful”
  2. Japanese · borrowed from美少年
  3. English todaybishonen

Borrowed from Japanese 美少年 (bishōnen びしょうねん), from Middle Chinese 美 (mij^X, “beautiful”) + 少年 (syewᴴ nen, “teenaged boy”) (compare Mandarin 少年 (shàonián)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.