銀

See also 银, and 鋃

Translingual

simpl.		银
trad.		銀

Etymology

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic 金 (“metal”) + phonetic 艮

Han character

銀 (radical 167 金+6, 14 strokes, cangjie input 金日女 (CAV), four-corner 8713₂, composition ⿰金艮)

1. silver, Ag
2. cash, money, wealth

References

• KangXi: page 1303, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40355
• Dae Jaweon: page 1805, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 4202, character 18
• Unihan data for U+9280

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Cantonese

Hanzi

銀 (simplified 银, Yale ngan2, ngan4)

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Japanese

Kanji

銀 (grade 3 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. silver

Readings

• Go'on: ごん, (gon)
• Kan'on: ぎん (gin)
• Kun: しろがね (shirogane), かね (kane)
• Nanori: うん (un), かな (kana), かね (kane)

Compounds

Compounds

銀貨 銀行 (ぎんこう, ginkō): a bank (a financial institution) 白銀

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. May be ultimately derived from onomatopoeia カンカン (kankan, “clang clang”), the sound of hitting metal. Compare Cantonese 金 (gam, “metal, gold”), Sanskrit कनक (kanaka, “gold, golden”), possibly suggesting a common onomatopoeic derivation.

Alternative forms

• 金, 鉄, 銅

Pronunciation

• 　Kun'yomi
• 　IPA: [ka̠ne̞]

Noun

銀 (hiragana かね, romaji kane)

1. metal
2. money

Usage notes

In former times, silver was the basis for the Japanese economy. In modern Japanese, kane is more commonly spelled using the character for gold: 金. The money sense is more commonly prefixed with お (o-).

Etymology 2

Compound of 白 (shiro, “white”) +‎ 金 (kane, “metal”). Starting from the Muromachi Period, the kane changes to gane due to rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA: [ɕiɽo̞ga̠ne̞]

Noun

銀 (hiragana しろがね, romaji shirogane)

1. silver
2. silver dust mixed into glue or some other base: silver paint or lacquer
3. silver thread
4. silver coin
5. the color silver

Compounds

Compounds

銀色 (しろがねいろ, shirogane iro): a bright shining color, like silver 白銀蜘蛛, 銀蜘蛛 (しろがねぐも, shirogane-gumo): a type of spider 銀細工 (しろがねざいく, shirogane-zaiku): finework using silver 銀師 (しろがねし, shiroganeshi): a silverworker, a silversmith 銀草 (しろがねそう, shiroganesō): alternate term for 蔓白銀草, ツルシロカネソウ (tsurushirokanesō): Dichocarpum stoloniferum, a type of low-growing flowering plant in family Ranunculaceae 銀作 (しろがねづくり, shirogane-zukuri): something decorated in silver, or made from silver 銀屋 (しろがねや, shiroganeya): a silverworker or silversmith's place of business; a silverworker or silversmith; (archaic) a moneychanger

Etymology 3

From Sinitic 銀.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• IPA: [giɴ]

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

銀 (hiragana ぎん, romaji gin)

1. silver (Ag)
2. (shogi) short for 銀将 (ginsho, “the silver general”, a shogi piece)

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Korean

Hanja

銀 (hangeul 은, revised eun, McCune-Reischauer ŭn, Yale un)

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Mandarin

Hanzi

銀 (simplified 银, pinyin qióng (qiong2), yín (yin2), Wade-Giles ch'iung², yin²)

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Min Nan

Hanzi

銀 (POJ gîn, gûn)

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Vietnamese

Han character

銀 (ngân)