獅

See also: 狮

Translingual

Han character

獅 (Kangxi radical 94, 犬+10, 13 strokes, cangjie input 大竹竹口月 (KHHRB), four-corner 4122₇, composition ⿰犭師)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 717, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 20609
• Dae Jaweon: page 1128, character 25
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 1363, character 4
• Unihan data for U+7345

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Chinese

trad.		獅
simp.		狮
alternative forms		師／师

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (師) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
篩	*sreːl, *srel, *sri
師	*sri
鰤	*sri
蒒	*sri
獅	*sri
螄	*sri

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sri) : semantic 犬 (“dog”) + phonetic 師 (OC *sri).

Etymology

First mentioned in the Book of Han [1st century CE], in the description of the "specialties" from the 烏弋山離 (OC *ʔˤa lək srar raj, “Alexandria”) country in the Western Regions. The country referred to is likely "Alexandria Prophthasia", which was part of the Parthian Empire during the time of Han, speaking an Indo-Iranian language.

Compare Middle Persian šgl (šagr, šēr, “lion; (astronomy) Leo”), Khotanese sarau (“lion”). Related to 狻猊 (OC *sloːn ŋeː).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 獅

1. lion
2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (architecture) Short for 石獅／石狮 (shíshī, “foo dog”).

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 獅子 (“lion”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		獅子, 獅
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		獅子
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	獅子
	Taiwan	獅子
	Ulanhot	獅子
	Tongliao	獅子
	Chifeng	獅子
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	獅子
	Harbin	獅子
	Singapore	獅子
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	獅子
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	獅子
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	獅子
	Zhengzhou	獅子
	Xi'an	獅子
	Xining	獅子
	Xuzhou	獅子
	Sokuluk (Gansu Dungan)	獅子
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	獅子
	Bayanhot	獅子
	Lanzhou	獅子
	Ürümqi	獅子
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	獅子
	Chongqing	獅子
	Wuhan	獅子
	Guiyang	獅子
	Liuzhou	獅子
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	獅子
	Yangzhou	獅子
	Hefei	獅子
Cantonese	Guangzhou	獅子
	Hong Kong	獅子
	Hong Kong (San Tin Weitou)	獅子
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin Weitou)	獅子
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	獅仔
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	獅子
	Macau	獅子
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	獅子
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	獅子
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	獅子
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	獅子
	Foshan	獅子
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	獅子
	Foshan (Shunde)	獅子
	Foshan (Sanshui)	獅子
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	獅子
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	獅子
	Zhuhai (Qianshan)	獅子
	Zhuhai (Doumen, Shangheng Tanka)	獅子
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	獅子
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	獅子
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	獅子
	Taishan	獅子
	Kaiping (Chikan)	獅子
	Enping (Niujiang)	獅
	Heshan (Yayao)	獅子
	Dongguan	獅子
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	獅
	Yangjiang	獅子
	Danzhou	獅子
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	獅子
	Singapore (Guangfu)	獅子
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	獅子
Gan	Nanchang	獅子
	Lichuan	獅仔
Hakka	Meixian	獅仔
	Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua)	獅
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	獅仔
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	獅仔
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	獅子
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	獅哩
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	獅子
	Jiexi	獅
	Luhe	獅
	Yudu	獅子
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	獅仔
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	獅仔
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	獅仔
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	獅
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	獅仔
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	獅
	Hong Kong	獅子
	Senai (Huiyang)	獅子
Huizhou	Jixi	獅
Jin	Taiyuan	獅子
	Xinzhou	獅子
	Taibus (Baochang)	獅子
	Linhe	獅子
	Jining	獅子
	Hohhot	獅子
	Baotou	獅子
	Dongsheng	獅子
	Haibowan	獅子
Northern Min	Jian'ou	獅子
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	獅
Southern Min	Xiamen	獅, 獅仔
	Quanzhou	獅
	Zhangzhou	獅, 獅仔
	Zhao'an	獅
	Kaohsiung	獅
	Yilan	獅
	Changhua (Lukang)	獅
	Taichung	獅
	Taichung (Wuqi)	獅
	Tainan	獅
	Taitung	獅
	Hsinchu	獅
	Penghu (Magong)	獅
	Penang (Hokkien)	獅
	Singapore (Hokkien)	獅, 獅仔
	Manila (Hokkien)	獅, 獅仔
	Chaozhou	獅
	Shantou	獅
	Jieyang	獅
	Bangkok (Teochew)	獅
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	獅
	Singapore (Teochew)	獅
	Wenchang	獅
	Haikou	獅
Puxian Min	Putian	獅
	Xianyou	獅
Central Min	Yong'an	獅子
Zhongshan Min	Shaxi (Longdu)	獅子
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	獅子
Wu	Shanghai	獅子
	Shanghai (Chongming)	獅子
	Suzhou	獅子
	Danyang	獅子
	Hangzhou	獅子
	Ningbo	獅子
	Wenzhou	獅子
	Jinhua	獅子
Xiang	Changsha	獅子
	Shuangfeng	獅子

References

• “Entry #9751”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

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Japanese

Kanji

獅

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. a lion

Readings

• Go-on: し (shi)
• Kan-on: し (shi)

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 獅 (MC srij).

Noun

獅(し) • (shi) 

1. lion

Usage notes

Very rarely used on its own. The shishi reading is almost always spelled as 獅子.

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Korean

Hanja

獅 • (sa) (hangeul 사, revised sa, McCune–Reischauer sa, Yale sa)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 獅 (sư)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Readings

• Nôm: sư

References

• Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
• Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
• Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm, NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999