Wiktionary

世

世 U+4E16, 世
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E16
← 丕
[U+4E15] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 丗 →
[U+4E17]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han character

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世 (Kangxi radical 1, 一+4, 5 strokes, cangjie input 心廿 (PT), four-corner 44717, composition ⿻廿𠃊)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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Further reading

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 77, character 11
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 31
  • Dae Jaweon: page 155, character 2
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 14, character 6
  • Unihan data for U+4E16

Chinese

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simp. and trad.
 世
alternative forms
丗 ancient
卋
㔺
𠀍
𠦔
丗 ancient
卋
㔺
𠀍
𠦔
𬆑
 

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 世
Western Zhou Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts
     
 
b02948
 
b02949
 
b02950
 
b02951
 
b02952
 
b02953
 
b02954
 
b02955
 
b02956
 
b02957
 
b02958
 
b02959
 
b02960
 
b02961
 
b02962
 
b02963
 
b02964
 
b02965
 
b02966
 
b02967
 
b02968
 
b02969
 
b02970
 
b02971
 
b02972
 
s01647
Transcribed ancient scripts
 
L35781
 
L35782
 
L35783
 
L35784
 
L35785
 
L35786
 
L35787
 
L35788
 
L35789
 
L35790
 
L35791
 
L35792
 
L35793
 
L19868
 
L19869
 
L19870
 
L19871
 
L19872
 
L19873
 
L19874
 
L19875
 
L19876
 
L19877
 
L19878
 
L19879
 
L19880
 
L19881
 
L19882
 
L19883
 
L19884
 
L19885
References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).
Characters in the same phonetic series (世) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
貰 *ɦljebs, *hljebs
跇 *l̥ʰebs, *lebs
迣 *ʔljebs
世 *hljebs
泄 *lebs, *sled
枻 *lebs
詍 *lebs
靾 *lebs
袣 *lebs
抴 *lebs, *led
呭 *lebs
勩 *lebs, *libs
屜 *l̥ʰeːbs
鰈 *l̥ʰaːb, *l'eːb
渫 *zreːb, *sled
煠 *zreːb, *l̥ʰeb, *leb
喋 *rlaːb, *ʔl'eːb, *l'eːb
鞢 *rlaːb, *sleːb
殜 *l'eb, *leb, *lab
葉 *hljeb, *leb
弽 *hljeb, *hleːb
韘 *hljeb, *sleːb
枼 *leb
楪 *leb
揲 *leb, *l'eːb, *ɦljed
鍱 *leb
偞 *leb, *hleːb
蝶 *l̥ʰeːb, *l'eːb
牒 *l'eːb
蹀 *l'eːb
諜 *l'eːb
堞 *l'eːb
牃 *l'eːb
褋 *l'eːb
惵 *l'eːb
碟 *l'eːb
屧 *sleːb
屟 *sleːb
紲 *sled
齛 *sled
疶 *sled
緤 *sled
媟 *sled

Etymology

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世 (OC *hljebs) is derived from iterative devoicing of 葉 (OC *leb, “leaf”) + *-s suffix, meaning successive foliages of a tree > generations. Compare Tibetan ལོ་མ (lo ma, “leaf”), Western Tibetan ལོབ་མ (lob ma, “leaf”) and Tibetan ལོ (lo, “year”).

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • si4 - vernacular;
  • se4 - literary.
Note:
  • Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taiwan:
    • sì - vernacular;
    • sè - literary.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 世
Mandarin Beijing /ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
Harbin /ʂʐ̩⁵³/
Tianjin /ʂʐ̩⁵³/
Jinan /ʂʐ̩²¹/
Qingdao /ʃz̩⁴²/
Zhengzhou /ʂʐ̩³¹²/
Xi'an /ʂʐ̩⁴⁴/
Xining /ʂʐ̩²¹³/
Yinchuan /ʂʐ̩¹³/
Lanzhou /ʂʐ̩¹³/
Ürümqi /ʂʐ̩²¹³/
Wuhan /sz̩³⁵/
Chengdu /sz̩¹³/
Guiyang /sz̩²¹³/
Kunming /ʂʐ̩²¹²/
Nanjing /ʂʐ̩⁴⁴/
Hefei /ʂʐ̩⁵³/
Jin Taiyuan /sz̩⁴⁵/
Pingyao /ʂʐ̩³⁵/
Hohhot /sz̩⁵⁵/
Wu Shanghai /sz̩³⁵/
Suzhou /sz̩ʷ⁵¹³/
Hangzhou /sz̩⁴⁴⁵/
Wenzhou /sei⁴²/
Hui Shexian /ɕi³²⁴/
Tunxi /ɕie⁴²/
/ɕi¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
Xiangtan /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
Gan Nanchang /sz̩⁴⁵/
Hakka Meixian /sz̩⁵³/
Taoyuan /ʃï⁵⁵/
Cantonese Guangzhou /sɐi³⁵/
Nanning /sɐi³³/
Hong Kong /sɐi³³/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /se²¹/
/si²¹/
/sua²¹/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /siɛ²¹²/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /si³³/
Shantou (Teochew) /si²¹³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /ti³⁵/
Rime
Character 世
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 書 (26)
Final (韻) 祭 (35)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 舒制切
Baxter syejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/ɕiᴇiH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/ɕiɛiH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/ɕjæiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/ɕiajH/
Li
Rong 		/ɕiɛiH/
Wang
Li 		/ɕĭɛiH/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/ɕi̯ɛiH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		shì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		sai3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 世
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		shì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ syejH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*l̥ap-s/
English generation

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 世
Reading # 1/1
No. 11537
Phonetic
component 		世
Rime
group 		蓋
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime 		丗
Old
Chinese 		/*hljebs/
Notes 本枼葉初文（文源）

Definitions

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世

  1. generation
    世代  ―  shìdài  ―  generation
    德皇威廉二世  ―  déhuáng Wēilián èr shì  ―  Kaiser Wilhelm II
  2. (literary, or in compounds) for many generations; spanning many generations
    世襲／世袭  ―  shìxí  ―  to inherit; to succeed
    世仇  ―  shìchóu  ―  hereditary enemy
  3. (in terms of address) longstanding friendship between two families; generations of family friendship
    世伯  ―  shìbó  ―  uncle (friend of one's father)
  4. lifetime; all one's life; one's whole life
    一生一世  ―  yīshēngyīshì  ―  all one's life
    下世 [Cantonese]  ―  haa6 sai3 [Jyutping]  ―  next life
  5. era; period; time
    當今之世／当今之世  ―  dāngjīn zhī shì  ―  at present; nowadays
  6. (geology) epoch (geochronologic unit)
    全新世  ―  quánxīnshì  ―  holocene
  7. world; people in the world
    世界  ―  shìjiè  ―  world
    在世  ―  zàishì  ―  alive
  8. (literary, or in compounds) dynasty; regime
  9. (literary, or in compounds) year; age
  10. (literary, or in compounds) worldly; profane; secular
    人情世故  ―  rénqíngshìgù  ―  ways of the world
  11. a surname

Synonyms

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  • (generation): 代 (dài)
  • (for many generations):
  • (lifetime):
  • (era):
  • (world):
  • (dynasty):

Compounds

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References

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Japanese

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Kanji

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世

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

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  • Go-on: せ (se, Jōyō)
  • Kan-on: せい (sei, Jōyō)
  • Kun: よ (yo, 世, Jōyō)
  • Nanori: とし (toshi)、ゆ (yu)、ゆき (yuki)

Compounds

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Compounds

Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
世
よ
Grade: 3
kun'yomi
Alternative spelling
代

⟨yo2⟩ → /yo/

From Old Japanese, pronunciation is distinct from 夜 (/⁠yo1⁠/, “night, nighttime”).

Change in meaning of 節 (yo), in the sense of the bamboos and reeds bulging at certain intervals.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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世(よ) • (yo) 

  1. world, society
  2. this world, this life
    Synonym: 俗世間 (zoku seken)
  3. (archaic) generation, age, era
  4. lifetime
    Synonym: 一生 (isshō)
  5. lifespan
    Synonym: 寿命 (jumyō)
  6. time of year, season
    Synonyms: 時節 (jisetsu), 時期 (jiki), 折 (ori)
  7. relationship between a man and a woman (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
  8. period of a person leading as a patriarch (Can we verify(+) this sense?)
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
世
せい
Grade: 3
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 世 (MC syejH). The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Counter

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世(せい) • (-sei) 

  1. generation
    ルパン三(さん)世(せい)
    Rupan-sansei
    Lupin the Third

Suffix

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世(せい) • (-sei) 

  1. (geology) epoch

Proper noun

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世(せい) • (Sei) 

  1. a female given name

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean

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Etymology

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From Middle Chinese 世 (MC syejH).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448 솅〮 (Yale: syéy)
Middle Korean
Text Eumhun
Gloss (hun) Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[2] 누리〮 (Yale: nwùlí) 셰〯 (Yale: syěy)
Sinjeung Yuhap, 1576 인간 (Yale: inkan) 셰 (Yale: syey)

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [sʰe̞(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [세(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

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Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

世 (eumhun 인간(人間) 세)

  1. hanja form? of 세 (“world”)
  2. hanja form? of 세 (“lineage; generation”)

Compounds

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Compounds

References

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  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [3]

Okinawan

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Kanji

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世

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

Readings

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Compounds

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Etymology

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Kanji in this term
世
ゆー
Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Cognate with mainland Japanese 世 (yo).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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世(ゆー) (yū) 

  1. age, era, period, time; rule
  2. world, society

Derived terms

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References

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  • “ゆー【世】” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.

Vietnamese

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Han character

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世: Hán Việt readings: thế
世: Nôm readings: thế, thá, thé, thể

Noun

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世

  1. chữ Hán form of thế (“(only in compounds) era, time, generation”).

Derived terms

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References

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