神経

• 読み: しんけい
• ローマ字: shinkei
• 漢字の分解: 神 (shin) — god, spirit; 経 (kei) — passage, sutra
• 発音: /ɕiɴ.keː/

意味

Nerve; sensitivity; nervousness. Both the physical nerve and emotional sensitivity.

A noun with both medical and colloquial uses. In medicine, it refers to the nervous system (神経系). In everyday language, it often describes someone's sensitivity or lack thereof, as in 神経が太い (thick-skinned, insensitive) and 神経質 (nervous, sensitive). Also used in the expression 神経を使う (to be mentally taxing).

例文

1. 歯の神経が痛い。
2. 彼は神経が太いから何も気にしない。
3. 細かい作業で神経を使った。

使い方ガイド

場面: health, personality, daily life

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

Composed of 神 (god, spirit) and 経 (passage, sutra). The term was coined as a translation of the Dutch word 'zenuw' (nerve) during the Edo period, framing nerves as spiritual pathways through the body.

文化的背景

時代: Edo period

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal