聖

See also 圣

Translingual

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 耳 (“ear”) + phonetic 呈

Han character

聖 (radical 128 耳+7, 13 strokes, cangjie input 尸口竹土 (SRHG), four-corner 1610₄)

1. holy, sacred, consecration
2. sage, saint, saintly

References

• KangXi: page 967, character 22
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29074
• Dae Jaweon: page 1415, character 28
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 4, page 2789, character 6
• Unihan data for U+8056

---

Cantonese

Hanzi

聖 (simplified 圣, Yale sing3)

---

Japanese

Kanji

聖 (grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. holy, sacred

Readings

• On: せい (sei), しょう (shō)
• Kun: ひじり (hijiri), ひじり-だつ (hijiri-datsu), ひじ-る (hiji-ru), きよい (kiyoi)
• Nanori: きよ (kiyo), きよし (kiyoshi)

Compounds

Compounds

聖杯 (せいはい, seihai): a sacramental cup 聖剣 (せいけん, seiken): a holy or sanctified blade/sword 聖香 (きよか, kiyoka): sacramental incense 聖石 (せいいし, seiishi): a holy stone, rock or mineral 大聖 (おおきひじり, ōkihijiri): a very important saint 楽聖 (がくせい, gakusei): a great musician 高野聖 (こうやひじり, Kōya hijiri): an itinerant Buddhist monk sent from Mount Kōya to preach around the country 神聖 (しんせい, shinsei): holiness, divine, sacred 聖化 (せいか, seika): virtuous teachings; (Christianity) purification 聖火 (せいか, seika): a sacred fire or flames 聖歌 (せいか, seika): a holy song or chant 聖者 (せいしゃ, seisha): a saint 聖主 (せいしゅ, seishu) holy lord 聖酒 (せいしゅ, seishu): sacramental sake, sacramental wine 聖書 (せいしょ, seisho): a holy book; the bible 聖女 (せいじょ, seijo): a female saint 聖人 (せいじん, seijin): a saint 聖水 (せいすい, seisui): holy water 成聖 (せいせい, seisei): consecration 聖仙 (せいせん, seisen): an immortal saint 聖戦 (せいせん, seisen): a holy war; a jihad or crusade 聖戦者 (せいせんしゃ, seisensha): a holy warrior; a crusader

聖像 (せいぞう, seizō): an icon, a sacred image or statue 聖体 (せいたい, seitai) a holy body; (Christianity) the Eucharist 聖体拝領 (せいたいはいりょう, seitai hairyō): (Christianity) holy communion 聖誕 (せいたん, seitan) (Christianity) the holy birth 聖誕祭 (せいたんさい, seitansai): Christmas 聖男 (せいだん, seidan): a male saint 聖地 (せいち, seichi): hallowed ground, holy place; the Holy Land 聖地面 (せいちめん, seichimen): hallowed ground 聖徒 (せいと, seito): (Catholicism) a saint 聖土 (せいど, seido): hallowed ground 聖堂 (せいどう, seidō): (Confucianism) a temple dedicated to Confucius; (Christianity) a church or chapel 聖年 (せいねん, seinen): (Catholicism) a holy year or jubilee year 聖パン (せいパン, seipan): sacramental bread 聖霊 (せいれい, seirei): the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost 大聖 (たいせい, taisei): the most exalted saint 大聖 (だいしょう, daishō): the Buddha; a Buddha; a bodhisattva 涜聖 (とくせい, tokusei): blasphemy, desecration 列聖 (れっせい, ressei): beatification, canonization 聖杖 (せいじょう, seijō): a sacred staff 聖仗 (せいじょう, seijō): a sacred staff

Synonyms

• 圣

Etymology 1

Compound of 日 (hi, “day, light, the sun”) +‎ 知り (shiri, “knowing”). The shiri changes to jiri due to rendaku (連濁).

Noun

聖 (hiragana ひじり, romaji hijiri)

1. a very virtuous or godly person; a saint
2. (honorific) the emperor
3. a sage
4. an expert; someone distinguished in their field
5. a virtuous or high-ranking Buddhist priest or monk
6. a Buddhist priest or monk in general
7. a monk who has gone into seclusion for purposes of asceticism and spiritual enlightenment
8. a monk who has adopted an itinerant lifestyle for purposes of asceticism andspiritual enlightenment, supporting themselves by gathering alms and food contributions; by extension, an itinerant preacher monk from Mount Kōya
9. (euphemistic) alternate name for 清酒 (seishu) (“refined sake”)
10. a textile peddler (from the resemblance to itinerant 高野聖 (Kōya hijiri) Buddhist preachers who would carry everything on their backs)

Synonyms

• (saint): 聖人 (せいじん, seijin)
• (emperor): 天皇 (てんのう, tennō)
• (sage): 仙人 (せんにん, sennnin)
• (expert): 達人 (たつじん, tatsujin)
• (virtuous monk): 聖僧 (せいそう, seisō), 大徳 (だいとく, daitoku)
• (monk or priest in general): 僧侶 (そうりょう, sōryo), 法師 (ほうし, hōshi)
• (ascetic in seclusion): 修験者 (しゅげんしゃ, shugensha)
• (itinerant ascetic, textile peddler): 聖方 (ひじりかた, hijirikata)
• (itinerant preacher monk): 高野聖 (こうやひじり, Kōya hijiri)

Etymology 2

From Sinitic 聖.

Adjectival noun

聖 (なり-nari inflection, hiragana せい, romaji sei)

1. holy, sacred

Noun

聖 (hiragana せい, romaji sei)

1. a saint; a holy person
2. holiness, sacredness
3. (euphemistic) alternate name for 清酒 (seishu) (“refined sake”)

Etymology 3

Translation of English saint, from Latin sanctus.

Prefix

聖 (hiragana せい, romaji sei)

1. (Catholicism) prefix added to the names of saints

Etymology 4

Jukujikun.

Proper noun

聖 (hiragana たかし, romaji Takashi)

1. A male given name

Etymology 5

Jukujikun.

Proper noun

聖 (hiragana さとし, romaji Satoshi)

1. A male given name

---

Korean

Hanja

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

---

Mandarin

Hanzi

聖 (simplified 圣, pinyin shèng (sheng4), Wade-Giles sheng⁴)

Compounds

• 聖埃克絮佩利
• 聖保羅
• 聖彼得堡
• 聖餐
• 聖誕
• 聖誕節
• 聖誕卡
• 聖誕老人
• 聖誕樹
• 聖誕夜
• 聖地
• 聖多美和普林西比
• 聖赫勒拿島
• 聖基茨和尼維斯
• 聖蹟
• 聖潔
• 聖經
• 聖經賢傳
• 聖雷莫
• 聖靈
• 聖盧西亞
• 聖路易
• 聖馬力諾
• 聖廟
• 聖明
• 聖莫里茨
• 聖母
• 聖人
• 聖塞瓦斯提安
• 聖上
• 聖手
• 聖水
• 聖文森特和格林納丁斯
• 聖賢
• 聖藥
• 聖諭
• 聖旨

---

Vietnamese

Han character

聖 (thánh)