犧牲

See also: 牺牲

Chinese

		sacrifice	domestic animal
trad. (犧牲)		犧	牲
simp. (牺牲)		牺	牲

Etymology

"sacrifice (animal)" (pre-Qin) -> "to immolate" (c. 1840) -> "to sacrifice" (c. 1900).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xīshēng

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄕㄥ
Cantonese (Jyutping): hei¹ sang¹
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): hî-sên
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): hi-sng / hi-seng

(Teochew, Peng'im): hi¹ sêng¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xīshēng
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄕㄥ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sisheng
  - Wade–Giles: hsi¹-shêng¹
  - Yale: syī-shēng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shisheng
  - Palladius: сишэн (sišɛn)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
  - Homophones:
    [Show/Hide]
    ^edit
    ^edit
    吸聲／吸声
    犧牲／牺牲
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: hei¹ sang¹
  - Yale: hēi sāng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hei¹ sang¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: héi¹ seng¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hei̯⁵⁵ sɐŋ⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hî-sên
  - Hakka Romanization System: hi^ˊ sen^ˊ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: hi¹ sen¹
  - Sinological IPA: /hi²⁴⁻¹¹ sen²⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hi-sng
  - Tâi-lô: hi-sng
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hisngf
  - IPA (Singapore): /hi⁴⁴⁻²² sŋ̍⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /hi³³ sŋ̍³³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Singapore)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hi-seng
  - Tâi-lô: hi-sing
  - Phofsit Daibuun: hisefng
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /hi⁴⁴⁻²² siɪŋ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Singapore): /hi⁴⁴⁻²² seŋ⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hi⁴⁴⁻³³ siɪŋ⁴⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: hi¹ sêng¹
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hi seng
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hi³³⁻²³ seŋ³³/

Middle Chinese: xje sraeng

Rime
Character	犧	牲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	支 (13)	庚 (109)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II
Fanqie	許羈切	所庚切
Baxter	xje	sraeng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hˠiᴇ/	/ʃˠæŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/hᵚiɛ/	/ʃᵚaŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/xiɛ/	/ʃaŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/hjiə̆/	/ʂaɨjŋ/
Li Rong	/xje/	/ʃɐŋ/
Wang Li	/xǐe/	/ʃɐŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/xie̯/	/ʂɐŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xī	shēng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hei¹	sang¹

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*hŋral sreŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	犧
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xī
Middle Chinese	‹ xje ›
Old Chinese	/*ŋ̊(r)a[j]/
English	sacrificial animal
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	犧	牲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13057	11313
Phonetic component	我	生
Rime group	歌	耕
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	犧	生
Old Chinese	/*hŋral/	/*sreŋ/

Noun

犧牲

sacrifice (animal presented to a deity, deceased ancestor, etc.)
- 犧牲玉帛，弗敢加也，必以信。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  牺牲玉帛，弗敢加也，必以信。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE
  Xīshēng yùbó, fú gǎn jiā yě, bì yǐ xìn. [Pinyin]
  I dare not exaggerate the amount of sacrifices, jade, and silk offered to the gods; I always tell the gods the truth.

Verb

犧牲

to give one's life for a certain cause; to sacrifice oneself
壯烈犧牲／壮烈牺牲 ― zhuàngliè xīshēng ― to die a hero's death
(figuratively) to sacrifice (give away something valuable); to give up; to abandon; to discard
「有些人」根本沒救，廢死徒犧牲了正義 [MSC, trad.]
「有些人」根本没救，废死徒牺牲了正义 [MSC, simp.]
“yǒuxiē rén” gēnběn méi jiù, fèisǐ tú xīshēng le zhèngyì [Pinyin]
"Some people" are basically incurable, death penalty abolition merely sacrifices justice

Synonyms

(to give one's life):

edit

捐軀／捐躯 (juānqū)
捨身／舍身 (shěshēn)
獻身／献身 (xiànshēn)
赴死 (fùsǐ)
陣亡／阵亡 (zhènwáng) (to die in battle)

(to give up):

edit

丟掉／丢掉 (diūdiào)
丟棄／丢弃 (diūqì)
割 (literary, or in compounds)
割捨／割舍 (gēshě) (literary)
屏棄／屏弃 (bǐngqì)
廢棄／废弃 (fèiqì)
扔掉 (rēngdiào)
扔棄／扔弃 (rēngqì)
拋／抛 (pāo)
㧒捒 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
㧒捔 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
拋棄／抛弃 (pāoqì)
捐 (literary, or in compounds)
捨去／舍去 (shěqù) (literary)
捨棄／舍弃 (shěqì)
揕捒 (Hokkien)
揚棄／扬弃 (yángqì)
摒棄／摒弃 (bìngqì)
擯棄／摈弃 (bìnqì)
擯除／摈除 (bìnchú)
擲捒／掷捒 (Hokkien)
放捒 (Hokkien)
放棄／放弃 (fàngqì)
放生 (Singapore Hokkien)
棄絕／弃绝 (qìjué) (literary)
甩捒 (Hokkien)
甩掉 (shuǎidiào)
遺棄／遗弃 (yíqì)
離棄／离弃 (líqì)

Derived terms

工資犧牲／工资牺牲 (gōngzī xīshēng)
犧牲品／牺牲品 (xīshēngpǐn)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (犧牲):

→ Japanese: 犠(ぎ)牲(せい) (gisei)
→ Korean: 희생(犧牲) (huisaeng)
→ Vietnamese: hi sinh (犧牲)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
犧	牲
ぎ Hyōgai	せい Grade: S
on'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 犧牲 – see the following entry.

【犠牲ぎせい】

[noun] sacrifice

[noun] casualty, victim, especially of a disaster

(This term, 犧牲, is the kyūjitai of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja in this term
犧	牲

Noun

犧牲 • (huisaeng) (hangeul 희생)

hanja form^? of 희생 (“sacrifice”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
犧	牲

Verb

犧牲

chữ Hán form of hi sinh (“to sacrifice”).