霊長

See also: 靈長 and 灵长

Japanese

Kanji in this term
霊	長
れい Grade: S	ちょう Grade: 2
kan’on

Alternative spelling
靈長 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 靈長 (MC leng trjangX, literally “god, deity + master, chief”). Ultimately sourced from the 書経 (Shokyō, “Book of Documents”), one version of which is dated to the late Qin dynasty.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) れーちょー [rèéchóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɾe̞ːt͡ɕo̞ː]

Noun

霊(れい)長(ちょう) • (reichō) ^{←れいちやう (reityau)?}

1. the master of all things, the most powerful of beings, the lord of creation

   人(にん)間(げん)は万(ばん)物(ぶつ)の霊(れい)長(ちょう)である。

   Ningen wa banbutsu no reichō de aru.

   Mankind is the lord of all things.

See also

• 霊(れい)長(ちょう)類(るい) (reichōrui, “primates”) (zoology)
• 霊(れい)長(ちょう)目(もく) (reichōmoku, “primates”) (zoology)

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN