Translingual

Stroke order

Japanese stroke order

Han character

生 (radical 100 生+0, 5 strokes, cangjie input 竹手一 (HQM), four-corner 2510₀, composition ⿻𠂉土)

1. Kangxi radical #100, ⽣ ‎(“life”).

References

• KangXi: page 754, character 26
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 21670
• Dae Jaweon: page 1162, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2575, character 1
• Unihan data for U+751F

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 生
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 屮 ‎(“bud”) + 一 ‎(“ground”) – sprouting from the ground.

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-riŋ ~ s-r(j)aŋ ‎(“to live; to be alive; to give birth; raw; green”). Cognate with Burmese ရှင် ‎(hrang, “to live; alive”), Mizo hring ‎(“to bear; to bring forth; to give birth to; green”).

Schuessler (2007) proposes that Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sriŋ is derived from the root *sri ‎(“to exist”) (whence possibly Chinese 體 (OC *r̥ʰiːʔ, “body; shape; form”)) + *-ŋ ‎(“terminative suffix”).

Both level tone and falling tone readings are found in Middle Chinese, but the latter has since been lost and is merged into the level-tone reading in modern dialects.

Related to 青 (OC *sʰleːŋ, “blue-green”), 蒼 (OC *sʰaːŋ, *sʰaːŋʔ, “dark blue; deep green”).

Derivatives: 性 (OC *sleŋs, “nature; character; personality; quality”), 姓 (OC *sleŋs, “family name”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

生

1. to live; to subsist; to exist
2. to grow; to develop; to bud
   • 紅豆生南國。 / 红豆生南国。  ―  Hóngdòu shēng nán guó.  ―  Red berries grow in southern lands.
3. (causative) to bear; to give birth; to bring up; to rear
   • 她妻子生了一對雙胞胎女孩。 [MSC, trad.]
     她妻子生了一对双胞胎女孩。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā qīzǐ shēng le yī duì shuāngbāotāi nǚhái. [Pinyin]

     His wife gave birth to twin girls.

   • John 1.9
   • 那光是真光，照亮一切生在世上的人。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

     Nà guāng shì zhēn guāng, zhàoliàng yīqiè shēng zài shìshàng de rén. [Pinyin]

     That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

4. to be born; to come into existence
   • 他生在中國。 / 他生在中国。  ―  Tā shēng zài zhōngguó.  ―  He was born in China.
5. offspring; descendant
6. pupil; disciple; student
   • 你作為全日制生必須定期上課。 [MSC, trad.]
     你作为全日制生必须定期上课。 [MSC, simp.]

     Nǐ zuòwèi quánrìzhì shēng bìxū dìngqī shàngkè. [Pinyin]

     As a full-time student, you should attend classes on a regular basis.

7. (historical) scholar; Confucian scholar
8. (opera) actor or male character
9. Short for 先生 (xiānshēng, “gentleman”).
10. (Cantonese) Short for 先生 (xiānshēng, “Mr.”).
    • 陳生 / 陈生 [Cantonese]  ―  can⁴saang¹ [Jyutping]  ―  Mr. Chan
11. life; existence; being; living
12. fresh; not stale
13. raw; uncooked
    • 生洋蔥 / 生洋葱  ―  shēng yángcōng  ―  raw onions
    • 我覺得呢塊肉仲係太生。 [Cantonese, trad.]
      我觉得呢块肉仲系太生。 [Cantonese, simp.]

      Ngo⁵ gok³ dak¹ ne¹ faai³ juk⁶ zung⁶ hai⁶ taai³saang¹. [Jyutping]

      I think this piece of meat is too raw.

14. uncultured; uncultivated
15. strange; unfamiliar
16. mechanically; forcedly
17. ^†very; quite; extremely
18. vivid; strong; forceful
19. innate; natural; born with
20. ^†Original form of 性 (xìng, “intelligence; natural endowment”).
21. living things; organism
22. livelihood; subsistence
23. lifetime; all one's life
24. birthday; anniversary
25. to bring back to life; to revive; to rescue
26. to generate; to breed; to create
27. to manufacture; to produce
28. to happen; to occur; to take place
29. (Buddhism) to go into society; to be reincarnated
30. (dialectal) to set up; to put in; to settle
31. to light; to ignite (a fire)
    • 母親沒有生爐子。 / 母亲没有生炉子。  ―  Mǔqīn méi yǒu shēng lúzǐ.  ―  Mother did not light the stove.

Compounds

Japanese

Japanese stroke order

Japanese stroke order

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: しょう (shō)
• Kan’on: せい (sei)
• Tōon: さん (san) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kun: いきる (生きる, ikiru), いかす (生かす, ikasu), い.ける (生ける, ikeru), うむ (生む, umu), うまれる (生まれる, 生れる, umareru), うまれ (生まれ, 生れ, umare), おう (生う, ou), はえる (生える, haeru), はやす (生やす, hayasu), き (ki), なま (nama), なる (生る, naru), なす (生す, nasu), むす (生す, musu)
• Nanori: あさ (asa), い (i), いき (iki), いく (iku), いけ (ike), うぶ (ubu), うまい (umai), え (e), おい (oi), ぎゅう (gyū), くるみ (kurumi), ごせ (gose), さ (sa), じょう (jō), すぎ (sugi), そ (so), そう (sō), ちる (chiru), なば (naba), にう (niu), にゅう (nyū), ふ (fu), み (mi), もう (mō), よい (yoi), りゅう (ryū)

Compounds

Noun

生 ‎(hiragana なま, romaji nama)

1. raw

   生 (なま)卵 (たまご)

   nama tamago

   a raw egg

   肉 (にく)を生 (なま)のまま食 (た)べると、腹 (はら)を壊 (こわ)すことがある。

   Niku o nama no mama taberu to, hara o kowasu koto ga aru.

   You may have a stomachache if you eat raw meat.

2. fresh, draft

   生 (なま)クリーム

   nama kurīmu

   fresh cream

   生 (なま)ビール

   nama bīru

   draft beer

Prefix

生 ‎(hiragana なま, romaji nama-)

1. live
2. raw, uncooked, rare
3. natural, unprocessed

Suffix

生 ‎(hiragana せい, romaji -sei)

1. a student

   中学 (ちゅうがく)生 (せい)、大学 (だいがく)生 (せい)、受験 (じゅけん)生 (せい)

   chūgakusei, daigakusei, jukensei

   middle-school student, university student, test-taking student → examinee

Korean

Hanja

生 • ‎(saeng)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 생 (McCune-Reischauer: saeng, Yale: sayng)

• Name (hangeul): 나다 (revised: nada, McCune-Reischauer: nada, Yale: nata)

Middle Korean ᄉᆡᆼ, IPA pronunciation estimate is Sʌiŋ.

1. fresh

Compounds

• 生日 (생일, saeng-il): birthday
• 生麥酒 (생맥주, saengmaekju): draft/draught beer
• 妓生 (기생, gisaeng): kisaeng

Vietnamese

Han character

生 (sinh, sanh, siêng, xênh, xinh)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Compounds

• 生素 ‎(sinh tố)