百合

Etymology

Named “hundred-union”, for the numerous segmented and overlapping scales on the bulb of the lily. The lily is traditionally a propitious sign of a blissful, long-lasting marriage; see the idiom 百年好合 (bǎiniánhǎohé).

The Taiwanese Min Nan pronunciation iú-lih, as well as the ACG sense of “yuri”, were influenced by Japanese 百 (ゆ)合 (り) (yuri).

Pronunciation

Noun

百合

1. lily
2. (ACG) yuri; lesbian

Etymology

Probably the nominalization of the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) yuri of Old Japanese-derived and now-obsolete verb 揺る (yuru, “to sway, to swing, to wave back and forth”), from the way that lilies tend to grow tall and sway in the breeze.

The spelling is borrowed from Chinese, and indicates the way that lily bulbs cluster together (合 (“gather, combine”)) in large numbers (百 (“hundreds”)).

For information on the slang for homosexuality, see Yuri (genre).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • (Tokyo) ゆり [yùrí] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
  • IPA^(key): [jɯ̟ᵝɾʲi]

Noun

百合 (hiragana ゆり, katakana ユリ, rōmaji yuri)

1. (botany) lily
2. the name of a color scheme when wearing multiple layers in the 襲 (kasane, “layering”) style, featuring a red outer layer and a reddish-gold inner layer, and worn in summer (from the way the color scheme resembles the coloration of the petals of certain varieties of lily)
3. (slang) yuri, manga or other media depicting attraction between women
   • 2015 February 25, “Dansei ga ‘yuri’ (gāruzurabu) ni moeru riyū [The reason men enjoy ‘yuri’ (girls love)]”, in Mainabi News‎:

     だったらむしろ、レズビアンや百合のほうが楽たのしめるというわけなんです。男性だんせいが百合に萌もえるのは、性せいに対たいするファンタジーなのかもしれません。

     If that's the case, it seems to be the reason that they enjoy lesbians or yuri. That a man fancies yuri, it is likely a sexual fantasy.

Proper noun

百合 (hiragana ゆり, rōmaji Yuri)

1. A female given name

References

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan