下野

		under; next; lower under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter	field; plain; open space field; plain; open space; limit; boundary; rude; wild
simp. and trad. (下野)		下	野

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

下野

1. (politics) to be forced to step down

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese 下野 (Shimotsuke).

下野

1. (～市) Shimotsuke (a city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan)

Kanji in this term
下	野
げ Grade: 1	や Grade: 2
goon

First attested around the early 1930s.^[1]

Appears to be coined in Japan from Middle Chinese-derived elements 下 (ge, “below, lower”) +‎ 野 (ya, “field”).

• (Tokyo) げや [géꜜyà] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ɡe̞ja̠]

下(げ)野(や) • (geya) 

1. (of a public servant) retirement from public office
2. (politics, of a political party) going into the opposition

下(げ)野(や)する • (geya suru) suru (stem 下(げ)野(や)し (geya shi), past 下(げ)野(や)した (geya shita))

1. (of a public servant) to retire from public office

   Synonym: 野に下る (ya ni kudaru)

2. (politics, of a political party) to go into the opposition

• 野(や)党(とう) (yatō, “opposition party”)

Kanji in this term
下	野
しも Grade: 1	Grade: 2
kun'yomi	irregular

Alternative spelling
繍線菊 (meadowsweet)

⟨simo₁tuke₂⟩ → */simʷotukei̯/ → /ɕimot͡suke/

Originally a clipping of Old Japanese 下毛野 (Simo₁tuke₂no₁ → Shimotsukeno, literally “Lower Keno”).^[3]

The meadowsweet sense was first attested in The Pillow Book (1002), from the province where the flower was first discovered.

下野(しもつけ) • (Shimotsuke) 

1. a placename, such as that of:
   1. (historical) Short for 下野国 (Shimotsuke-no-kuni): Shimotsuke Province, an old province of Japan, now part of Tochigi Prefecture

      Synonym: 野州 (Yashū)

   2. Short for 下野市 (Shimotsuke-shi): Shimotsuke (a city in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan) [2006–]
2. a surname

• 下野(しもつけ)薬(やく)師寺(しじ)址(あと) (Shimotsuke Yakushiji Ato)
• 木(き)下野(しもつけ) (kishimotsuke)

• 上野(こうずけ) (Kōzuke)

下野(しもつけ) or 下野(シモツケ) • (shimotsuke) 

1. the Japanese meadowsweet, Spiraea japonica

   Synonym: 木下野 (kishimotsuke)

   Hypernym: 薔薇 (bara)

Kanji in this term
下	野
しも Grade: 1	の Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From 下 (shimo, “lower”) +‎ 野 (no, “field”).

下(しも)野(の) • (Shimono) 

1. a placename
2. a surname

Kanji in this term
下	野
した Grade: 1	の Grade: 2
kun'yomi

From 下 (shita, “below”) +‎ 野 (no, “field”).

下(した)野(の) • (Shitano) 

1. a placename
2. a surname

Hanja in this term
下	野

下野 • (haya) (hangeul 하야)

1. hanja form^? of 하야 (“withdrawal from politics, e.g. being forced to step down”)