Wiktionary

仙

See also: 仚
仙 U+4ED9, 仙
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4ED9
← 付
[U+4ED8] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 仚 →
[U+4EDA]

Translingual edit

Stroke order
 

Han character edit

仙 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 人山 (OU), four-corner 22270, composition ⿰亻山)

Derived characters edit

Related characters edit

References edit

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 92, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 374
  • Dae Jaweon: page 196, character 3
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 114, character 3
  • Unihan data for U+4ED9

Chinese edit

 
Wikipedia has an article on:

Glyph origin edit

Historical forms of the character 仙
Transcribed ancient scripts
 

L31826

 

L31827

 

L31828

 

L06560

 

L06561

 

L06562

 

L06563

 

L06564

 

L06565

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 (山) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
山 *sreːn
疝 *sreːn, *sraːns
邖 *sreːn
汕 *sreːnʔ, *sraːns
訕 *sraːn, *sraːns
仙 *sen
秈 *sen
苮 *sen
屾 *srin

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sen) : semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 山 (OC *sreːn, “mountain”) — a person moving into a mountain to practise becoming immortal.

Originally 僊. The current form is first attested in the clerical script of the Han dynasty.

Etymology 1 edit

simp. and trad.
 仙
alternative forms
 
僊
仚
屳
㒨 ancient
僲
僊
仚
屳
㒨 ancient
僲
𠑗 ancient
𠏡

A relatively late word, perhaps Sino-Tibetan (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Tibetan གཤེན (gshen, “shaman”), as in Tibetan གཤེན་རབ (gshen rab, “Shenrab”), the founder of the Tibetan religion Bon, although this might be a loan from Chinese (ibid.). Starostin sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s[ă]n (“a kind of demon”), comparing it to Tibetan བསེན་མོ (bsen mo, “female devil”) and Jingpho sawn (“malignant female nat”).

Pronunciation edit

Note:
  • siêng1 - Chaozhou;
  • siang1 - Shantou.
  • Dialectal data
Variety Location 仙
Mandarin Beijing /ɕian⁵⁵/
Harbin /ɕian⁴⁴/
Tianjin /ɕian²¹/
Jinan /ɕiã²¹³/
Qingdao /siã²¹³/
Zhengzhou /sian²⁴/
Xi'an /ɕiã²¹/
Xining /ɕiã⁴⁴/
Yinchuan /ɕian⁴⁴/
Lanzhou /ɕiɛ̃n³¹/
Ürümqi /ɕian⁴⁴/
Wuhan /ɕiɛn⁵⁵/
Chengdu /ɕian⁵⁵/
Guiyang /ɕian⁵⁵/
Kunming /ɕiɛ̃⁴⁴/
Nanjing /sien³¹/
Hefei /ɕyĩ²¹/
Jin Taiyuan /ɕie¹¹/
Pingyao /ɕie̞¹³/
Hohhot /ɕie³¹/
Wu Shanghai /ɕi⁵³/
Suzhou /siɪ⁵⁵/
Hangzhou /ɕiẽ̞³³/
Wenzhou /ɕi³³/
Hui Shexian /se³¹/
Tunxi /siɛ¹¹/
Xiang Changsha /siẽ³³/
Xiangtan /siẽ³³/
Gan Nanchang /ɕiɛn⁴²/
Hakka Meixian /sien⁴⁴/
Taoyuan /sien²⁴/
Cantonese Guangzhou /sin⁵⁵/
Nanning /ɬin⁵⁵/
Hong Kong /sin⁵⁵/
Min Xiamen (Hokkien) /sian⁵⁵/
Fuzhou (Eastern Min) /sieŋ⁴⁴/
Jian'ou (Northern Min) /siŋ⁵⁴/
Shantou (Teochew) /siaŋ³³/
Haikou (Hainanese) /tin²³/
Rime
Character 仙
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 心 (16)
Final (韻) 仙 (77)
Tone (調) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 相然切
Baxter sjen
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/siᴇn/
Pan
Wuyun 		/siɛn/
Shao
Rongfen 		/sjæn/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/sian/
Li
Rong 		/siɛn/
Wang
Li 		/sĭɛn/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/si̯ɛn/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		xiān
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		sin1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 仙
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		xiān
Middle
Chinese 		‹ sjen ›
Old
Chinese 		/*[s]a[r]/
English immortal (n.)

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 仙
Reading # 1/1
No. 11060
Phonetic
component 		山
Rime
group 		元
Rime
subdivision 		2
Corresponding
MC rime 		仙
Old
Chinese 		/*sen/

Definitions edit

仙

  1. (Taoism) xian (an immortal; celestial being)
  2. (figurative) extraordinary person
    詩仙／诗仙  ―  shīxiān  ―  great poet; epithet of Li Bai
  3. (agent affix, chiefly Southern Min, honorific) expert; a title for a person with a specific expertise
    相命仙 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  siòng-miā-sian [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  fortuneteller
  4. (agent affix, chiefly Southern Min, ironic) person with some specific hobby or addiction
    筊仙 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  kiáu-sian [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  gambler
  5. a euphemism for the deceased
    仙逝  ―  xiānshì  ―  to pass away
  6. (Southern Min) Classifier for deity, idol, statue, doll. Alternative form of 身 (sian)
    Synonym: 尊 (zūn)
    大仙的王爺公，細仙的王爺囝。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
    大仙的王爷公，细仙的王爷囝。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]
    Tōa sian--ê ông-iâ kong, sè sian--ê ông-iâ kiáⁿ. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
    (idiomatic) Idols of Wang Ye's are everywhere. Literally, “The bigger idol is a senior Wang Ye; the smaller idol is a junior Wang Ye.”
  7. (Southern Min) (with negative) whatsoever, any way
    仙講都毋聽／仙讲都毋听 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  sian kóng to m̄ thiaⁿ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  won't listen (to you) no matter what you say
  8. a surname
Descendants edit
Sino-Xenic (仙):
  • → Japanese: 仙(せん) (sen)
  • → Korean: 선(仙) (seon)
  • → Vietnamese: tiên (仙)

Others:

Compounds edit

See also edit

Etymology 2 edit

simp. and trad.
 仙
alternative forms 銑／铣 Min Nan

Borrowed from English cent.

Pronunciation edit

Definitions edit

仙

  1. (Cantonese, Southern Min, Malaysian and Singapore Mandarin) cent (Classifier: 個／个 c)
    五仙硬幣／五仙硬币 [Cantonese]  ―  ng5 sin1 ngaang6 bai6 [Jyutping]  ―  five-cent coin
    佢係私生子，佢老豆死嗰陣一個仙都冇分畀佢。 [Cantonese, trad.]
    佢系私生子，佢老豆死嗰阵一个仙都冇分畀佢。 [Cantonese, simp.]
    keoi5 hai6 si1 sang1 zi2, keoi5 lou5 dau6 sei2 go2 zan6 jat1 go3 sin1 dou1 mou5 fan1 bei2 keoi5. [Jyutping]
    He is a son born out of wedlock, so when his dad died, he didn't even inherit one cent.
Synonyms edit
Dialectal synonyms of 分 (“fen; cent”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 分
Mandarin Beijing 分
Taiwan 分
Jinan 分
Xi'an 分
Wuhan 分
Chengdu 分
Yangzhou 分
Hefei 分
Malaysia 仙
Singapore 分
Cantonese Guangzhou 分
Hong Kong 仙, 仙士 dated
Taishan 分, 仙
Gan Nanchang 分
Hakka Meixian 分
Jin Taiyuan 分
Northern Min Jian'ou 分
Eastern Min Fuzhou 分
Southern Min Xiamen 占, 分
Quanzhou 占
Zhangzhou 占
Tainan 仙
Penang (Hokkien) 鐳, sen
Singapore (Hokkien) 占
Manila (Hokkien) 仙
Chaozhou 分
Singapore (Teochew) 占
Wu Suzhou 分
Wenzhou 分
Xiang Changsha 分
Shuangfeng 分

Compounds edit

See also edit

Etymology 3 edit

From clipping of English senior.

Pronunciation edit

Definitions edit

仙

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) senior
Derived terms edit

Japanese edit

Kanji edit

仙

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings edit

Compounds edit

Compounds

Etymology 1 edit

Kanji in this term
仙
せん
Grade: S
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 仙 (MC sjen, literally “immortal”). Compare modern Mandarin reading xiān and Cantonese reading sin1.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

仙(せん) • (sen) 

  1. a sage or hermit, an enlightened person, usually immortal and ageless
  2. (mythology) short for 仙人 (sennin): a wizard or mage; an immortal living as a hermit in the mountains
  3. by extension, the region or area where a sennin lives
  4. the supernatural techniques for becoming immortal and ageless
  5. a person of exceptional talent

Etymology 2 edit

Kanji in this term
仙
せんと
Grade: S
irregular

Borrowed from English cent.[1][2] The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun.

For pronunciation and definitions of 仙 – see the following entry.
【セント】
[noun] [1860] cent (various national currencies, 1⁄100 of a unit)
[noun] [1872] saint
(This term, 仙, is an alternative spelling (obsolete) of the above term.)

Usage notes edit

This word is almost always spelled in katakana as セント.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Korean edit

Etymology edit

From Middle Chinese 仙 (MC sjen). Recorded as Middle Korean 션 (syen) (Yale: syen) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Pronunciation edit

Hanja edit

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

仙 (eumhun 신선 선 (sinseon seon))

  1. Hanja form? of 선 (“a sage or hermit, an enlightened person, usually immortal and ageless”).

Compounds edit

Compounds

References edit

  • 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [1]

Vietnamese edit

Han character edit

仙: Hán Nôm readings: tiên

Noun edit

仙

  1. xian, Immortal(Taoism)
  2. fairy
  3. celestial
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