Translingual

Han character

貴 (radical 154 貝+5, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中一月山金 (LMBUC), four-corner 5080₆, composition ⿳中一貝)

Derived characters

• 潰, 饋, 匱, 聵, 闠, 憒, 䰎, 穨, 僓, 樻, 殨, 鞼, 䜋, 繢, 隤, 遺

Descendants

• 贵

Hypernyms

• 高 (high)

References

• KangXi: page 1206, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36704
• Dae Jaweon: page 1669, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3632, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8CB4

Chinese

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *kluds) : phonetic 臾 ‎(OC *ɡruds, *lo) + semantic 貝 ‎(“money cowrie”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

貴

1. expensive; costly

   Antonyms: 廉 (lián), 賤／贱 (jiàn)

   那件衣服很貴，是綢子的。 [MSC, trad.]

   那件衣服很贵，是绸子的。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nà jiàn yīfú hěn guì, shì chóuzi de. [Pinyin]

   That dress is expensive. It's made of silk.

2. precious; valuable

   貴金屬 / 贵金属  ―  guìjīnshǔ  ―  precious metal

3. superior; noble
4. (honorific, for deity, person or establishment) your

   您貴姓？ / 您贵姓？  ―  Nín guìxìng?  ―  What is your name?

   能否給我些貴公司更詳細的資料？ [MSC, trad.]

   能否给我些贵公司更详细的资料？ [MSC, simp.]

   Néngfǒu gěi wǒ xiē guì gōngsī gèng xiángxì de zīliào? [Pinyin]

   Could you give me more details about your company?

   應邀向貴雜誌投稿是一個榮譽。 [MSC, trad.]

   应邀向贵杂志投稿是一个荣誉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yìngyāo xiàng guì zázhì tóugǎo shì yī ge róngyù. [Pinyin]

   It is an honour to be invited to contribute to your magazine.

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Definitions

1. expensive (たかい)
2. worthful, precious (たかい, とうとい, たっとい)
3. superior, aristocratic (たかい, とうとい, たっとい, えらい, あてやか)
4. to esteem (とうとぶ, たっとぶ)

Readings

• Goon: き (ki)
• Kan’on: き (ki)
• Kun: あて (ate), あてぶ (貴ぶ, atebu), あてはか (貴はか, atehaka), あてばむ (貴ばむ, atebamu), あてやか (貴やか, ateyaka), たかい (貴い, takai), とうとい (貴い, tōtoi), たっとい (貴い, tattoi), えらい (貴い, erai), とうとぶ (貴ぶ, tōtobu), とうとむ (貴む, tōtomu), たっとぶ (貴ぶ, tattobu), たっとむ (貴む, tattomu)
• Nanori: あてし (ateshi), き (ki), きさき (kisaki), きよ (kiyo), ぎ (gi), ただし (tadashi), たか (taka), たかし (takashi), もとむ (motomu), よし (yoshi),

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 貴 ‎(kjwɨj^H, literally “precious, noble, superior”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [kʲi]

Prefix

貴 ‎(hiragana き, romaji ki-)

1. (archaic) added to nouns related to people to indicate superiority

   貴 (き)公子 (こうし)、貴 (き)婦人 (ふじん)、貴 (き)賓 (ひん)

   kikōshi, kifujin, kihin

   [young] nobleman, noblewoman, superior guest

2. (archaic) added to nouns to indicate respect and possession: your

   貴 (き)店 (てん)

   kiten

   your [honorable] store

Derived terms

Suffix

貴 ‎(hiragana き, romaji -ki)

1. added after nouns related to people to express love and respect

Usage notes

This suffix meaning appears from roughly the Edo period.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Unknown. Possibly cognate with 当て ‎(ate, “aim; expectation, hope”), the 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 当てる ‎(ateru, “to face one thing towards another; to make something hit a target”).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [a̠te̞]

Adjective

貴 ‎(hiragana あて, romaji ate)

1. (archaic) noble, aristocratic, high-born
2. (archaic) refined, elegant

Noun

貴 ‎(hiragana あて, romaji ate)

1. (archaic) one's own father (by extension of the “noble” meaning)
   • 1028-1107: 栄花物語 (Eiga Monogatari, “Tale of Splendor”)

     貴 (あて)は麿 (まろ)をば恋 (こい)しとは思 (おも)ひ給 (たま)はぬか

     Ate wa maro woba koishi to wa omohitamahanu ka

     Doesn't father think I'm his darling?

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Possibly a compound of 身 ‎(mu, “body”) +‎ 霊 ‎(chi, “spirit, essence, soul”). Alternatively, may be an alteration of 睦 ‎(mutsu, “friendly, harmonious”, affix not used in isolation), probably caused by fusion with the Old Japanese emphatic nominal particle い ‎(i) in a manner similar to the alteration between kamu (combining form) and kami (standalone form) for 神 ‎(“god, spirit”), or kutsu (combining form) and kuchi (standalone form) for 口 ‎(“mouth”).

Noun

貴 ‎(hiragana むち, romaji muchi)

1. (archaic) an honorific term for a deity or person

   大日孁 (おおひるめ)の貴 (むち)

   ōhirume no muchi

   literally “honorable woman of the great sun”, an epithet for the sun goddess Amaterasu

Derived terms

Etymology 4

Used as ateji in various names.

Compounds

• (expensive): 騰貴
• (worthful, precious): 貴賎, 貴重
• (superior, aristocratic): 貴人, 貴賎, 貴族, 貴賓, 高貴, 富貴

Korean

Hanja

貴 • ‎(gwi) (hangeul 귀, revised gwi, McCune-Reischauer kwi, Yale kwi)

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

Vietnamese

Han character

貴 (quý, quí, quư)

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