Wiktionary

仙

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

TranslingualEdit

Stroke order
 

Han characterEdit

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

Derived charactersEdit

Related charactersEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • KangXi: 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

ChineseEdit

 
Wikipedia has an article on:

Glyph originEdit

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) and phono-semantic compound (形聲, 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 1Edit

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”). Compare also with Burmese စုန်း (cun:, “witch, wizard”).

PronunciationEdit

Note:
  • siêng1 - Chaozhou;
  • siang1 - Shantou.
  • Wu
  • Xiang
    • 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 (Min Nan) /sian⁵⁵/
    Fuzhou (Min Dong) /sieŋ⁴⁴/
    Jian'ou (Min Bei) /siŋ⁵⁴/
    Shantou (Min Nan) /siaŋ³³/
    Haikou (Min Nan) /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/

    DefinitionsEdit

    仙

    1. (Taoism) xian (an immortal; celestial being)
    2. (figurative) extraordinary person
      詩仙／诗仙  ―  shīxiān  ―  great poet; epithet of Li Bai
    3. a euphemism for the deceased
      仙逝  ―  xiānshì  ―  to pass away
    4. a surname
    DescendantsEdit
    Sino-Xenic (仙):
    • → Japanese: 仙(せん) (sen)
    • → Korean: 선(仙) (seon)
    • → Vietnamese: tiên (仙)

    Others:

    CompoundsEdit

    Derived terms from 仙

    See alsoEdit

    Etymology 2Edit

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

    Borrowed from English cent.

    PronunciationEdit

    DefinitionsEdit

    仙

    1. (Cantonese, Min Nan, Malaysian Mandarin, Singaporean Mandarin) cent
      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.
    SynonymsEdit
    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
    Gan Nanchang 分
    Hakka Meixian 分
    Jin Taiyuan 分
    Min Bei Jian'ou 分
    Min Dong Fuzhou 分
    Min Nan 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

    CompoundsEdit

    See alsoEdit

    Etymology 3Edit

    From clipping of English senior.

    PronunciationEdit

    DefinitionsEdit

    仙

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

    JapaneseEdit

    KanjiEdit

    仙

    (common “Jōyō” kanji)

    ReadingsEdit

    CompoundsEdit

    Compounds

    Etymology 1Edit

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

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

    PronunciationEdit

    NounEdit

    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 2Edit

    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 notesEdit

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

    See alsoEdit

    ReferencesEdit

    1. ^ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
    2. ^ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

    KoreanEdit

    EtymologyEdit

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

    PronunciationEdit

    HanjaEdit

    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”).

    CompoundsEdit

    Compounds

    ReferencesEdit

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

    VietnameseEdit

    Han characterEdit

    仙: Hán Nôm readings: tiên

    NounEdit

    仙

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