Etymology

From 妹子 (mèizi, “younger sister, young female”), with replacement of the diminutive suffix 子 (zǐ, “child, son”) by the close-sounding retroflexed counterpart 紙／纸 (zhǐ, “paper”). See also 孩紙／孩纸 (háizhǐ, “child, kid”).

Pronunciation