亡命

• 読み: ぼうめい
• ローマ字: bomei
• 漢字の分解: 亡 (bo) — flee, perish; 命 (mei) — life, fate
• 発音: /boː.meː/

意味

Exile; defection; seeking asylum. Fleeing one's own country, typically for political reasons, to seek refuge or protection in another country.

Composed of 亡 (to flee, to be lost) and 命 (life). 亡命 implies fleeing to preserve one's life or freedom from political persecution. 亡命者 (exile, refugee, defector) and 亡命先 (country of asylum) are common derived forms. The term covers both high-profile political defections — such as Cold War-era defectors or North Korean defectors — and literary/artistic exiles. It is also used in the phrase 亡命政府 (government in exile).

例文

1. 独裁政権の崩壊を前に、多くの閣僚が隣国への亡命を求めて国境に殺到した。
2. 著名な作家が政府による言論弾圧を逃れて海外に亡命し、亡命先でも創作活動を続けた。
3. 冷戦期には東側諸国の外交官や科学者が西側に亡命するケースが相次いだ。

使い方ガイド

場面: politics, history, international relations, human rights, journalism

トーン: serious, political

起源と歴史

Sino-Japanese compound: 亡 (bo — flee, perish, lost) + 命 (mei — life, fate). The compound captures the idea of fleeing in order to save one's life. Used in Chinese (亡命, wángmìng) with a similar meaning. A term with a long literary and political history in East Asian texts.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: Adult

社会的背景: Educated