Origin

The character 尼 combines two components to represent a nun. The left part 尸 suggests a person or body in a recumbent or bent position, while 匕 below adds a sense of submission or humility. Together, these elements evoke the idea of a woman in a posture of religious devotion or restraint — the kind of physical bearing associated with monastic life. Over time, this visual idea of a person in a humble or devotional pose came to mean specifically a Buddhist nun.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Compound ideographic (combined meanings).