城

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

城 (radical 32 土+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 土戈竹尸 (GIHS), four-corner 4315₀, composition ⿰土成)

1. castle
2. city, town
3. municipality

References

• KangXi: page 229, character 32
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5086
• Dae Jaweon: page 465, character 22
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 438, character 7
• Unihan data for U+57CE

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Cantonese

Hanzi

城 (jyutping seng4, sing4, Yale seng4, sing4)

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Japanese

Wikipedia ^ja

Wikipedia

Kanji

城 (grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• Goon: じょう (jō)
• Kan’on: せい (sei)
• Kun: き (ki), ぐすく (gusuku), さし (sashi), しき (shiki), しろ (shiro)
• Nanori: いち (ichi), がき (gaki), き (ki), くに (kuni), ぐしく (gushiku), ぐすく (gusuku), さし (sashi), しき (shiki), すく (suku), ぜい (zei), たち (tachi), なり (nari)

Compounds

• 破城槌 (はじょうつい, hajōtsui): a battering ram

Etymology 1

Derivation unknown. First appears in 794 when the 山背 (Yamashiro) region was renamed 山城 (Yamashiro), keeping the old reading but applying the kanji 城 to the reading shiro for the first time.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: /si.ɽo/, [ɕiɽo̞]

Noun

城

城 (hiragana しろ, romaji shiro)

1. castle

Etymology 2

Archaic Okinawan dialect term. The final ku may be cognate with mainland Japanese ki.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: /gu.su.ku/, [gɯᵝsɯᵝkɯᵝ]

Noun

城 (hiragana ぐすく, romaji gusuku)

1. castle
   • 1531-1623: Omoro Sōshi

     一 聞得大君ぎや 降れて 遊びよわれば 天が下 平らげて ちよわれ 又 鳴響む精高子が 又 首里杜ぐすく 真玉杜ぐすく

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese. ki₂: [kɨ] > [ki]. Perhaps cognate with Korean. The Samguk Sagi (1145) equates Baekje 悦城 as 悦己 and 潔城 as 結己, indicating that the word 城 "castle" was read as 己 (*ki).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ki]

Noun

城 (hiragana き, romaji ki)

1. a structure surrounded by a moat or walls: a fortress, castle
   • c. 759: Man'yōshū (book 20, poem #4331)

     天皇乃 等保能朝[廷]等 之良奴日 筑紫國波 安多麻毛流 於佐倍乃城曽等 聞食 四方國尓波 比等佐波尓 美知弖波安礼杼 登利我奈久 安豆麻乎能故波 伊田牟可比 加敝里見世受弖 伊佐美多流 多家吉軍卒等 祢疑多麻比 麻氣乃麻尓々々 多良知祢乃 波々我目可礼弖 若草能 都麻乎母麻可受 安良多麻能 月日餘美都々 安之我知流 難波能美津尓 大船尓 末加伊之自奴伎 安佐奈藝尓 可故等登能倍 由布思保尓 可知比伎乎里 安騰母比弖 許藝由久伎美波 奈美乃間乎 伊由伎佐具久美 麻佐吉久母 波夜久伊多里弖 大王乃 美許等能麻尓末 麻須良男乃 許己呂乎母知弖 安里米具[理] 事之乎波良[婆] 都々麻波受 可敝理伎麻勢登 伊波比倍乎 等許敝尓須恵弖 之路多倍能 蘇田遠利加敝之 奴婆多麻乃 久路加美之伎弖 奈我伎氣遠 麻知可母戀牟 波之伎都麻良波

   • 787-824: Nihon Ryōiki (preface, page 201)

     原夫内経外書 伝於日本 而興始代 凡有二時 皆自百済国将禮來之 軽嶋豊明宮御宇誉田天皇代 外書來之 礒城訓紀嶋金刺宮御宇鉄明天皇代 内典來也 [...]

See also

• 宮 (みや, miya): palace
• 殿 (との, tono): palace
• 宮殿 (きゅうでん, kyūden): palace

References

• 1972 June 18 [c. 1531-1623], Shuzen Hokama; Nobutsuna Saigō, Nihon Shisō Taikai 18: Omoro Sōshi (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten:
• 1996, Osamu Izumoji, Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 30: Nihon Ryōiki (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 4-00-240030-1:
• 2003 [c. 759], Akihiro Satake; Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, Yoshiyuki Yamazaki, Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 4: Man'yōshū 4 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 4-00-240004-2:

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Korean

Hanja

城 (hangeul 성, revised seong, McCune-Reischauer sŏng, Yale seng)

1. defensive wall, rampart, e.g., The Great Wall of China
2. fort, castle, citadel
3. capital, city, town, borough, fortified settlement
4. statehood
5. to wall, castellate

Synonyms

Synonyms

(wall): 郭 (곽, gwak) (wall): 壁 (벽, byeok) (fort): 堡 (보, bo) (fort): 壘 (루, ru) (fort): 堡壘 (보루, boru) (fort): 塞 (새, sae) (fort): 要塞 (요새, yosae) (fort): 砦 (채, chae)

(town): 都 (도, do): capital (town): 都邑 (도읍, do-eup): capital (town): 都城 (도성, doseong): capital (town): 京城 (경성, gyeongseong): capital (town): 都市 (도시, dosi): city (town): 市 (시, si): city (town): 邑 (읍, eup): town (statehood): 國 (국, guk)

Meronyms

Meronyms

池 (지, ji): moat; also pond, pool 垓 (해, hae): moat; also edge of land, border, boundary 垓字 (해자, haeja): moat, ditch, fosse

壕 (호, ho): moat, ditch, fosse 濠 (호, ho): moat, ditch, fosse 隍 (황, hwang): dry moat or ditch

Compounds

Compounds

城郭 (성곽, seonggwak): wall, rampart 城壁 (성벽, seongbyeok): wall, rampart 城堡 (성보, seongbo): fort, castle, citadel 城砦 (성채, seongchae): fort, rampart 城池 (성지, seongji): moat, ditch, fosse 城濠 (성호, seongho): moat, ditch, fosse 城隍 (성황, seonghwang): origin of 서낭 (seonang): Korean shamanic god

內城 (내성, naeseong): inner wall 外城 (외성, oeseong): outer wall 在城 (재성, jaeseong): inner wall 羅城 (나성, naseong): outer wall, also the obsolete Sino-Korean for 로스앤젤레스 (loseu-aenjelleseu, “Los Angeles”) 山城 (산성, sanseong): hill-fort 長城 (장성, jangseong): The Great Wall of China 漢城 (한성, hanseong): Seoul (서울, 1395-1910) 京城 (경성, gyeongseong): Seoul (서울, 1910-1945)

Usage notes

• This ideogram may well imply fortification in itself whereas the city as one of its translations may not, hence maybe not worth a good one. This may be where the town should make sense of it instead, though it may be as improper as cognate to down, dune, etc.

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Mandarin

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Hanzi

城 (pinyin chéng (cheng2), Wade-Giles ch'eng²)

Compounds

• 城市 (chéngshì)
• 城堡 (chéngbǎo)

See also

• 村 (cūn)

Noun

城 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin chéng)

1. (archaic) castle
2. city

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Middle Chinese

Han character

城 (*zhiɛng)

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Vietnamese

Han character

城 (thành) Thành - Phiên âm: Thành