美(び)

び

noun

beauty; aesthetic quality

1. beauty; aesthetic quality

Abstract beauty, especially as an aesthetic ideal or quality to be appreciated in art, nature, or design. Used as a one-character noun in formal and literary writing, and as a productive suffix in many compounds.

美(び)を追求(ついきゅう)する。

To pursue beauty.

自然(しぜん)の美(び)に感動(かんどう)した。

I was moved by the beauty of nature.

日本(にほん)庭園(ていえん)には季節(きせつ)ごとに違(ちが)う美(び)がある。

A Japanese garden has a different kind of beauty in each season.

As a standalone noun, 美(び) is formal and abstract — closer to English "beauty" as a concept than to "a beautiful thing." In everyday speech, 美(うつく)しさ is more common for "beauty" of a specific object or scene.

Compounds

美(び)術(じゅつ): art (fine art)
美人(びじん): a beautiful woman
美容(びよう): cosmetic care; beauty (industry)
美味(びみ)しい: delicious (the more common form is おいしい)
美意識(びいしき): aesthetic sense

Similar words

美(うつく)しさ: beauty (of something specific) — concrete, everyday
美(うつく)しい: beautiful (adjective)

general

Added 2026.6.7 11:04 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02

28500/28891_bi