白金

Chinese

		white; empty; blank white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous	metal; gold; money
simp. and trad. (白金)		白	金

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): báijīn

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˊ ㄐㄧㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak⁶ gam¹
• Min Nan (POJ): pe̍h-kim / pe̍eh-kim

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: báijīn
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ ㄐㄧㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: báijin
    • Wade–Giles: pai²-chin¹
    • Yale: bái-jīn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bairjin
    • Palladius: байцзинь (bajczinʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯³⁵ t͡ɕin⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: baak⁶ gam¹
    • Yale: baahk gām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁹ gam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bag⁶ gem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːk̚² kɐm⁵⁵/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 白金 帛金

• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pe̍h-kim
    • Tâi-lô: pe̍h-kim
    • Phofsit Daibuun: peqkym
    • IPA (Taipei): /pe(ʔ)⁴⁻¹¹ kim⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Kaohsiung): /pe(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ kim⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pe(ʔ)²⁴⁻² kim³³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pe̍eh-kim
    • Tâi-lô: pe̍eh-kim
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pɛ(ʔ)¹²¹⁻²¹ kim⁴⁴/

Noun

白金

1. (informal) platinum (metal)
2. white gold (alloy of gold)
3. (archaic) silver (especially extracted, or used as a currency)

Synonyms

• (platinum):

edit

• 鉑／铂 (bó)

• 鉑金／铂金 (bójīn)

• (silver): 銀子／银子 (yínzi)

Derived terms

• 白金卡
• 白金婚 (báijīnhūn)

• 白金漢／白金汉 (Báijīnhàn)
• 白金漢宮／白金汉宫 (Báijīnhàn Gōng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (白金):

• → Japanese: 白金(はっきん) (hakkin)
• → Korean: 백금(白金) (baekgeum)
• → Vietnamese: bạch kim (白金)

Japanese

Chemical element
Pt
Previous: イリジウム (irijiumu) (Ir)
Next: 金(きん) (kin) (Au)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
白	金
はく > はっ Grade: 1	きん Grade: 1
on’yomi

Originally from Middle Chinese compound 白金 (MC bˠæk̚ kˠiɪm, “white + metal”) in reference to silver. Consider 銀 (shirogane, older shirokane, “silver”, literally “white metal”), where shiro in isolation is spelled 白 and kane in isolation is spelled 金.

Repurposed by Japanese scientist Udagawa Yōan in 1834 as a compound of 白 (haku, “white”) +‎ 金 (kin, “gold”), in reference to the metal's description as “white gold” in earlier scientific works, such as Dutch witgoud.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) はっきん [hàkkíń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ha̠k̚ʲkʲĩɴ]

Noun

白(はっ)金(きん) • (hakkin) ^{←はくきん (fakukin)?}

1. platinum (metal)
2. (rare, possibly obsolete) silver, particularly silver powder used as a pigment

Usage notes

This reading hakkin is sometimes used erroneously to refer to white gold, due to one of the literal interpretations of the characters in the kanji spelling. The reading shirokin (see below) appears in some reference works with the meaning white gold, but the borrowed term ホワイトゴールド (howaito gōrudo) is much more common.

Synonyms

• (platinum): プラチナ (purachina)
• (silver): 銀(ぎん) (gin), 銀(しろがね) (shirogane)
• (silver powder): 銀(ぎん)粉(ぷん) (ginpun)

Descendants

• → Chinese: 白金 (báijīn)
• → Korean: 백금 (baekgeum)
• → Vietnamese: bạch kim

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
白	金
しろ Grade: 1	きん Grade: 1
yutōyomi

Compound of 白 (shiro, “white”) +‎ 金 (kin, “gold”). The use of the kun'yomi for the first character and the on'yomi for the second character points to a more recent derivation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɕiɾo̞kʲĩɴ]

Noun

白(しろ)金(きん) • (shirokin) 

1. (rare, possibly proscribed) white gold

Synonyms

• ホワイトゴールド (howaito gōrudo) (much more common)
• 白(はく)色(しょく)金(きん) (hakushokukin)

References

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja in this term
白	金

Noun

白金 • (baekgeum) (hangeul 백금)

1. Hanja form^? of 백금 (“platinum”).

Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
白	金

Noun

白金

1. chữ Hán form of bạch kim (“platinum”).