門地

• 読み: もんち
• ローマ字: monchi
• 漢字の分解: 門 (mon) — gate, clan, family | 地 (chi) — ground, position, status
• 発音: /mon.tɕi/

意味

Family status; lineage; birth; social rank determined by the family one is born into.

A formal and somewhat archaic term for social class as determined by family lineage rather than individual achievement. Article 14 of Japan's constitution explicitly prohibits discrimination based on 門地 (family lineage) or 社会的身分 (social status). In historical usage it referred to the distinction between noble houses, samurai clans, and commoners. Today it appears primarily in legal, academic, and historical contexts.

例文

1. 日本国憲法は門地による差別を明確に禁じている。
2. 江戸時代は門地によって職業や居住地が厳しく制限されていた。
3. 現代では門地よりも学歴や能力が社会的評価の基準となっている。

使い方ガイド

場面: constitutional law, history, social stratification

トーン: formal

起源と歴史

Compound of 門 (mon) meaning 'gate, house, family, clan' and 地 (chi) meaning 'ground, position, status'. Together they denote the social standing attached to one's family house — literally 'the position of one's gate/family'.

文化的背景

時代: Classical–Present

世代: Legal scholars and historians

社会的背景: Universal