貴

See also: 贵

Translingual

Han character

貴 (Kangxi radical 154, 貝+5, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中一月山金 (LMBUC), four-corner 5080₆, composition ⿱𠀐貝)

Derived characters

• 潰, 饋, 匱, 聵, 闠, 憒, 䰎, 穨, 僓, 樻, 殨, 鞼, 䜋, 繢, 隤, 遺

Descendants

• 贵
• 𛀩

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1206, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36704
• Dae Jaweon: page 1669, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3632, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8CB4

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Chinese

trad.		貴
simp.		贵
alternative forms		䝿

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 貴
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
藬	*l'uːl
僓	*l̥ʰuːlʔ, *ɡluːds
頹	*l'uːl
穨	*l'uːl
蘈	*l'uːl
隤	*l'uːl
墤	*l'uːl, *kʰruːds
尵	*l'uːl, *r'uːl
蹪	*l'uːl
瀢	*l'uːlʔ, *lulʔ
鞼	*kluːl, *ɡruls
膭	*kluːl, *ɡluːls
憒	*kluːds
靧	*ɡluːds
潰	*ɡluːls
繢	*ɡluːds
嬇	*ɡluːds, *kʰruːds
殨	*ɡluːds
闠	*ɡluːds
簣	*kʰruːds, *ɡruds
嘳	*kʰruːds, *kʰruds
蕢	*kʰruːds, *ɡruds
聵	*ŋɡruːds
樻	*kʰruds, *ɡruds
䙡	*kʰruds, *kʰluds
匱	*ɡruds
臾	*ɡruds, *lo
饋	*ɡruls
櫃	*ɡruds
遺	*lul, *luls
壝	*lul, *lulʔ
瞶	*luls, *kluls
貴	*kluds

Simplified from 䝿 (臾 → 𠀐)

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kluds) : phonetic 臾 (OC *ɡruds, *lo) + semantic 貝 (“money cowrie”).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 貴

1. expensive; costly

   Template:zh-ant

   那件衣服很貴，是綢子的。 [MSC, trad.]
   那件衣服很贵，是绸子的。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nà jiàn yīfú hěn guì, shì chóuzi de. [Pinyin]

   That dress is expensive. It's made of silk.

2. precious; valuable

   貴金屬／贵金属  ―  guìjīnshǔ  ―  precious metal

3. superior; noble; nobility
4. (honorific, for deity, person or establishment) your

   您貴姓？／您贵姓？  ―  Nín guìxìng?  ―  What is your name?

   能否給我些貴公司更詳細的資料？ [MSC, trad.]
   能否给我些贵公司更详细的资料？ [MSC, simp.]

   Néngfǒu gěi wǒ xiē guì gōngsī gèng xiángxì de zīliào? [Pinyin]

   Could you give me more details about your company?

   應邀向貴雜誌投稿是一個榮譽。 [MSC, trad.]
   应邀向贵杂志投稿是一个荣誉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Yìngyāo xiàng guì zázhì tóugǎo shì yī ge róngyù. [Pinyin]

   It is an honour to be invited to contribute to your magazine.

References

• “Entry #9061”, 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.

(deprecated template usage)

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Japanese

Kanji

貴

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. expensive (たかい)
2. worthful, precious (たかい, とうとい, たっとい)
3. superior, aristocratic (たかい, とうとい, たっとい, えらい, あてやか)
4. to esteem (とうとぶ, たっとぶ)

Readings

• Go-on: き (ki, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: き (ki, Jōyō)
• Kun: たかい (takai, 貴い); たっとい (tattoi, 貴い, Jōyō)^{←たつとい (tatutoi, 貴い, historical)}; とうとい (tōtoi, 貴い, Jōyō)^{←たふとい (tafutoi, 貴い, historical)}; たっとぶ (tattobu, 貴ぶ, Jōyō)^{←たつとぶ (tatutobu, 貴ぶ, historical)}; とうとぶ (tōtobu, 貴ぶ, Jōyō)^{←たふとぶ (tafutobu, 貴ぶ, historical)}
• Nanori: きよ (kiyo); ぎ (gi); たか (taka); たかし (takashi); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

Compounds

• (expensive): 騰貴
• (worthful, precious): 貴賎, 貴重
• (superior, aristocratic): 貴人, 貴賎, 貴族, 貴賓, 高貴, 富貴

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
貴
き Grade: 6
on’yomi

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Chinese 貴／贵 (kjwɨj^H, literally “precious, noble, superior”).

Prefix

貴(き) • (ki-) 

1. (archaic) added to nouns related to people to indicate superiority

   貴(き)公(こう)子(し)、貴(き)婦(ふ)人(じん)、貴(き)賓(ひん)

   kikōshi, kifujin, kihin

   [young] nobleman, noblewoman, superior guest

2. (archaic) added to nouns to indicate respect and possession: your

   貴(き)店(てん)

   kiten

   your [honorable] store

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 貴(き)様(さま) (kisama): you (derogatory: the original “superior” meaning degraded over time, becoming ironic, and then insulting)

Suffix

貴(き) • (-ki) 

1. added after nouns related to people to express love and respect

Usage notes

This suffix meaning appears from roughly the Edo period.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 兄(あに)貴(き) (aniki): my [dear] elder brother
• 姉(あね)貴(き) (aneki): my [dear] elder sister
• 伯父(おじ)貴(き) (ojiki): my [dear] uncle

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
貴
あて Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Unknown. Possibly cognate with 当て (ate, “aim; expectation, hope”), the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 当てる (ateru, “to face one thing towards another; to make something hit a target”).

Adjective

貴(あて) • (ate) 

1. (archaic) noble, aristocratic, high-born
2. (archaic) refined, elegant

Noun

貴(あて) • (ate) 

1. (archaic) one's own father (by extension of the “noble” meaning)
   • 1028-1107: 栄花物語 (Eiga Monogatari, “Tale of Splendor”)

     貴(あて)は麿(まろ)をば恋(こい)しとは思(おも)ひ給(たま)はぬか

     Ate wa maro oba koishi to wa omohitamahanu ka

     Doesn't father think I'm his darling?

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 貴(あて)人(びと) (atebito): an aristocrat; a nobleman; a person with a noble and refined bearing
• 貴(あて)ぶ (atebu): to be refined and elegant
• 貴(あて)ばむ (atebamu): to appear refined and elegant
• 貴(あて)はか (atehaka): refined, elegant
• 貴(あて)やか (ateyaka): refined, elegant

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
貴
むち Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Possibly a compound of 身 (mu, “body”) +‎ 霊 (chi, “spirit, essence, soul”). Alternatively, may be an alteration of 睦 (mutsu, “friendly, harmonious”, affix not used in isolation), probably caused by fusion with the Old Japanese emphatic nominal particle い (i) in a manner similar to the alteration between kamu (combining form) and kami (standalone form) for 神 (“god, spirit”), or kutsu (combining form) and kuchi (standalone form) for 口 (“mouth”).

Noun

貴(むち) • (muchi) 

1. (archaic) an honorific term for a deity or person

   大(おお)日(ひ)孁(るめ)の貴(むち)

   ōhirume no muchi

   literally “honorable woman of the great sun”, an epithet for the sun goddess Amaterasu

Derived terms

• 汝(なむち) (namuchi)

Etymology 4

Used as ateji in various names.

Names

Proper noun

貴(あてし) • (Ateshi) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

貴(たか) • (Taka) 

1. a male given name
2. a surname

Proper noun

貴(たかし) • (Takashi) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

貴(ただし) • (Tadashi) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

貴(もとむ) • (Motomu) 

1. a male given name

Proper noun

貴(きさき) • (Kisaki) 

1. a surname

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Korean

Hanja

貴 (eumhun 귀할 귀 (gwihal gwi))

1. Hanja form^? of 귀 (“precious”).

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Vietnamese

Han character

(deprecated template usage) 貴 (quý, quí, quới)

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