民主

• 読み: みんしゅ
• ローマ字: minshu
• 漢字の分解: 民 (min) — people, citizen, nation; 主 (shu) — master, main, lord
• 発音: /miɴ.ɕɯ/

意味

Democracy; popular sovereignty. The principle that political power belongs to the people.

A noun that primarily appears as the first element of compounds like 民主主義 (minshushugi, democracy), 民主化 (minshuka, democratisation), and 民主的 (minshuteki, democratic). Rarely used as a standalone noun in modern Japanese — almost always appears in compound form.

例文

1. 民主主義の根幹は国民の参加にある。
2. その国は民主化の道を歩み始めた。
3. 民主的な手続きで代表者が選ばれた。

使い方ガイド

場面: politics, history, education

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

From Sino-Japanese: 民 (min, people/citizen) + 主 (shu, master/lord). Literally 'the people are master' — the concept that sovereignty rests with the populace.

文化的背景

時代: Modern

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal