匕首

Chinese

		dagger; ladle; an ancient type of spoon	head; chief; first (occasion) head; chief; first (occasion); first (thing); measure word for poems
trad. (匕首)		匕	首
simp. #(匕首)		匕	首

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bǐshǒu

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bei⁶ sau²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): pí-siú

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bǐshǒu [Phonetic: bíshǒu]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bǐshǒu
    • Wade–Giles: pi³-shou³
    • Yale: bǐ-shǒu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: biishoou
    • Palladius: бишоу (bišou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bǐshǒur [Phonetic: bíshǒur]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄧˇ ㄕㄡˇㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bǐshǒur
    • Wade–Giles: pi³-shou³-ʼrh
    • Yale: bǐ-shǒur
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: biishooul
    • Palladius: бишоур (bišour)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pi²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂɤʊ̯ɻʷ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Note: Often mispronounced as bìshǒu.

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bei⁶ sau²
    • Yale: beih sáu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bei⁶ sau²
    • Guangdong Romanization: béi⁶ seo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pei̯²² sɐu̯³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pí-siú
    • Tâi-lô: pí-siú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: pysiuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siu⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pi⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ siu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siu⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /pi⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pi⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ siu⁴¹/

Noun

(deprecated template usage) 匕首

1. dagger (Classifier: 把 m)

Synonyms

• (Min Nan) 匕鑽／匕钻

Derived terms

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
匕	首
ひ Hyōgai	しゅ Grade: 2
goon

From Chinese 匕首 (bǐshǒu), possibly from Middle Chinese. Appears in texts from at least the 1300s.

The Chinese dagger was sometimes used for assassination, and had a spoon-shaped blade tip designed to inflict damage on the victim's neck. Hence the spelling, literally 匕 (bǐ, “spoon”) + 首 (shǒu, “neck”).

Noun

匕(ひ)首(しゅ) • (hishu) 

1. Synonym of あいくち: aikuchi, a type of 短刀(たんとう) (tantō) dagger

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
匕	首
あい Hyōgai	くち Grade: 2
irregular

The spelling is Jukujikun (熟字訓), based on a roughly similar kind of dagger used in China. That dagger was sometimes used for assassination, and had a spoon-shaped blade tip designed to inflict damage on the victim's neck. Hence the spelling, literally 匕 (bǐ, “spoon”) + 首 (shǒu, “neck”).

For pronunciation and definitions of 匕首 – see the following entry.

【あいくち】 [noun] 匕首, 合口, 合い口: a specific type of dagger with no crossguard, where the hilt fits directly against the opening of the scabbard, often kept concealed in one's clothing Alternative spellings 合口, 合い口

(This term, 匕首, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)