Chinese

Noun

惑星

1. (astronomy, rare) Synonym of 行星 (xíngxīng).

Japanese

惑星 (wakusei): a collection of planets.

Etymology

Wasei kango: Calque of Dutch dwaalster (literally, “wander star”).

Coined in 1792 by Dutch-Japanese translator Motoki Yoshinaga in his translation of Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium and its heliocentric model. Sinic compound of 惑 ‎(waku, “to move about confusedly, to wander”) +‎ 星 ‎(sei, “star”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) わくせい [wàkúséé] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ɰᵝa̠kɯᵝse̞ː]

Noun

惑星 ‎(hiragana わくせい, romaji wakusei)

1. (astronomy) planet

   あの星 (ほし)は恒星 (こうせい)じゃなくて、惑星 (わくせい)です。

   Ano hoshi wa kōsei ja nakute, wakusei desu.

   That light isn't a star, it's a planet.

2. (obsolete) a dark horse

   政界 (せいかい)の惑星 (わくせい)

   seikai no wakusei

   a dark horse in the political world

See also

• (planets of the Solar System) 太陽系の惑星; 水星, 金星, 地球, 火星, 木星, 土星, 天王星, 海王星

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9

• 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, ISBN 4095102535.