오빠

Korean

Etymology

Probably contracted from 오라비 (orabi, “brother of a female”) +‎ 아 (-a, “hey”, vocative particle), compare 누나 (nuna, “elder sister of a male”). For more on the etymology, see 오라비 (orabi).

Pronunciation
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?oppa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?o'ppa
McCune–Reischauer?oppa
Yale Romanization?o.ppa

Noun

오빠 • (oppa)

  1. elder brother of a female
    Synonym: (honorific, dated) 오라버니 (orabeoni)
    Coordinate term: 언니 (eonni)
    Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)
  2. (women's speech, in informal friendly settings) somewhat older male
    오빠랑 사귄 지 얼마 됐지?
    Oppa-rang sagwin ji eolma dwaetji?
    How long has it been since I started going out with him?

Usage notes

This term is used as a de facto second-person pronoun by women to address both older brothers and unrelated men of somewhat older age. This is because Korean does not permit the use of true second-person pronouns towards a social superior. See 너#Usage notes for more.

Synonyms

Lua error in Module:utilities at line 142: attempt to perform arithmetic on local 'h' (a nil value)

Derived terms

(kinship terms)

  • 작은오빠 (jageunoppa)
  • 친오빠 (chinoppa)
  • 맏오빠 (madoppa)
  • 오빠부대 (oppabudae)
  • 사촌오빠 (sachonoppa)
  • 큰오빠 (keunoppa)

(other)

  • 빠 (ppa, “stan (obsessive fan”)

Descendants
  • → English: oppa
  • → Chinese: 歐巴／欧巴 (ōubā)
  • → Japanese: オッパ (oppa)
  • → Indonesian: oppa

See also
  • 형 (hyeong, “older brother of a male”)
  • 누나 (nuna, “older sister of a male”)
  • 동생 (dongsaeng, “younger sibling”)
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