雌黄

See also: 雌黃

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 雌黄 – see 雌黃 (“gamboge; orpiment”). (This term is the simplified form of 雌黃).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Etymology 1

雌黄 (shiō, kini): a sample of the mineral orpiment.

Kanji in this term
雌	黄
し Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
on’yomi

Alternative spelling
雌黃 (kyūjitai)

/siːwau/ → /ɕiːwɔː/ → /ɕiːoː/

From Middle Chinese compound 雌黄 (tsiɛ hwang, literally “female + yellow”), indicating the mineral orpiment, in contrast to 雄黃／雄黄 (hjuwng hwang, literally “male + yellow”), indicating the mineral realgar.

Cognate and homophone of 雄黄 (kini, “realgar”). Only differentiated by spelling.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) しおー [shìóó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɕio̞ː]

Noun

雌(し)黄(おう) • (shiō) ^{←しわう (siwau)?}

1. orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Usage notes

This is the most common reading for this kanji compound.

Synonyms

• 石黄(せきおう) (sekiō) (more common)
• 雄黄(ゆうおう) (yūō) (rare)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
雌	黄
きに
Grade: S	Grade: 2
jukujikun

Alternative spelling
雌黃 (kyūjitai)

Probably from Old Japanese [Term?]. Compound of 黄 (ki, “yellow”) +‎ 丹 (ni, “earth, reddish earth”).

The spelling is jukujikun (熟字訓), ultimately from Middle Chinese 雌黃.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kʲiɲ̟i]

Noun

雌黄(きに) • (kini) 

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Synonyms

• 石黄(せきおう) (sekiō) (more common)

Related terms

Related terms

• 雄黄(きに) (kini): realgar, an arsenic sulfide mineral