迷信

• 読み: めいしん
• ローマ字: meishin
• 漢字の分解: 迷 (mei) — lost, confused, astray; 信 (shin) — belief, trust, faith
• 発音: /meː.ɕiɴ/

意味

Superstition; superstitious belief. An irrational belief based on tradition, fear, or ignorance rather than evidence.

A noun describing beliefs not grounded in reason or science. Japan has many well-known superstitions, such as the unluckiness of the number 4 (四, shi, which sounds like 死, death) and not sleeping with your head facing north (北枕, kitamakura). Common collocations include 迷信を信じる (meishin wo shinjiru, to believe in superstition), 迷信にすぎない (meishin ni suginai, it's nothing but superstition), and 迷信深い (meishinbukai, superstitious).

例文

1. 夜に爪を切ると親に会えなくなるという迷信がある。
2. 科学が発達した今でも迷信を信じる人は多い。
3. それはただの迷信にすぎないと思う。

使い方ガイド

場面: culture, daily life, folklore, science

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

From Sino-Japanese: 迷 (mei, lost/confused/astray) + 信 (shin, belief/trust). Literally 'lost belief' — a belief formed from confusion rather than understanding.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal