石鹸

Japanese

Etymology 1

石鹸 (sekken): a bar of handmade soap.

Kanji in this term
石	鹸
せき > せっ Grade: 1	けん Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Alternative spellings
石鹼 (kyūjitai) 石けん

Appears to be from Middle Chinese 石鹼 (MC dzyek keamX, literally “stone + lye; soap”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) せっけん [sèkkéń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [se̞k̚kẽ̞ɴ]

Noun

石(せっ)鹸(けん) • (sekken) 

1. soap

Descendants

• → Hakka: 石鹼／石碱 (sa̍k-kién)
• → Korean: 석감 (石鹼, seokgam)
• → Kanakanabu: siking
• → Yami: siken

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
石	鹸
さぼん
Grade: 1	Hyōgaiji
jukujikun

Alternative spelling
石鹼 (kyūjitai)

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

【サボン】 [noun] (uncommon) alternative form of シャボン (shabon): soap

(This term, 石鹸, is an alternative spelling (historical) of the above term.)

Usage notes

This kanji spelling for this reading is historical. This reading is spelled in katakana as サボン in modern usage.