麒麟

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Chinese

male unicorn female unicorn
trad. (麒麟) 麒 麟
simp. #(麒麟) 麒 麟
alternative forms 騏驎 obsolete
麒麐／麒麟 obsolete
Wikipedia has articles on:
麒麟 (qilin)

Etymology

Qilin was a propitious beast in ancient Chinese mythology, with the shape of a deer, tail of an ox, a single horn and scales all over its body. Old Chinese pronunciation for this word was *g(ɯ)-rin (Zhengzhang), and in pre-Qin times the beast was also referred to as

  • 麟 (OC *rin),
  • 麐 (OC *m·rin, *m·rins),
  • 𪊓, or
  • 蔽 (OC *peds),

the last two having been attested in the oracle bone script already. This is much debate as to what animal the qilin beast was; some maintain that the qilin was a beast only found in mythology, even though it may have been based on some animal in pre-historic times, and some argue that the qilin was in reality the river deer, the ox or cow, or the Indian rhinoceros (Wang, 2009).

During the Song–Ming Dynasties, the giraffe was introduced to China, either by envoys from other Asian or African countries, or through Zheng He who commanded multiple expeditionary voyages to Asia and Africa (Zhang, 2007). Besides using the transcription 祖剌法 (zǔlàfǎ) (from Arabic زُرَافَة (zurāfa, “giraffe”)) to name the animal, the Chinese also referred to it as qilin, believing it was the prototype of the mythological beast qilin. Such association may be due to the phonological similarity of the words for “giraffe” in North African languages, to the pronunciation of *麒麟 (MC gi lin) at the time (i.e. a phono-semantic matching) (Zhang, 2007). Compare:

Somali geri (“giraffe”), Sango kôlo, Amharic ቀጭኔ (ḳäč̣ne), Kazakh керік (kerık), Mursi kirin[1] and Arabic زَرَافَة (zarāfa), زُرَافَة (zurāfa) (whence English giraffe).

The “giraffe” sense of 麒麟 is obsolete in modern Chinese, but is preserved in the Sinoxenic loanwords in Japanese (麒(き)麟(りん) (kirin)) and Korean (기린). In modern Vietnamese (kì lân), this word refers to the beast qilin, as well as the western mythological beast unicorn.

Pronunciation

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Noun

(deprecated template usage) 麒麟

  1. (Chinese mythology) qilin (propitious mythological beast) (Classifier: 隻／只)
  2. (figurative, literary) outstanding person; man of ability
  3. (obsolete) giraffe (ruminant of the genus Giraffa)

Synonyms

  • (outstanding person):
(deprecated template usage)
  • (giraffe):
Dialectal synonyms of 長頸鹿 (“giraffe”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 長頸鹿
Taxonomic name 長頸鹿
Northeastern Mandarin Beijing 長脖兒鹿
Taiwan 長頸鹿
Singapore 長頸鹿
Lanyin Mandarin Ürümqi 長脖兒鹿
Southwestern Mandarin Liuzhou 長頸鹿
Cantonese Hong Kong 長頸鹿
Hakka Huizhou (Huicheng Bendihua) 長頸鹿
Miaoli (N. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿仔
Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian) 長頸鹿
Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) 長頸鹿
Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) 長頸鹿
Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) 長頸鹿
Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an) 長頸鹿
Southern Min Xiamen 長頸鹿, 長頷鹿
Zhao'an 長頸鹿
Taipei (Wanhua) 長頭鹿
New Taipei (Tamsui) 長頭鹿
Kaohsiung 長頷鹿, 麒麟仔
Kaohsiung (Cijin) 長頷頸
Kaohsiung (Dalinpu, Siaogang) 長頸鹿, 長鹿仔
Yilan 長頷鹿
Yilan (Luodong) 躼跤鹿仔
Yilan (Toucheng) 躼跤鹿仔
Changhua (Lukang) 麒麟鹿
Taichung 麒麟
Taichung (Wuqi) 麒麟鹿
Tainan 長頷鹿
Taitung 長頷鹿
Hsinchu 長頷鹿
Penghu (Magong) 長頷鹿
Penang (Hokkien) 麒麟鹿, 長頸鹿
Singapore (Hokkien) 麒麟鹿, 長跤鹿, 長頸鹿
Singapore (Teochew) 長頸鹿

Derived terms

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Descendants

Sino-Xenic (麒麟):
  • → Japanese: 麒(き)麟(りん) (kirin)
  • → Korean: 기린(麒麟) (girin)
  • → Vietnamese: kì lân (麒麟)
  • → Thai: กิเลน (gì-leen)

    • Proper noun

    (deprecated template usage) 麒麟

    1. (～區) Qilin District (district in Qujing, Yunnan province, China)
    2. (～鎮) Qilin (a town in Zongyang, Tongling, Anhui, China)

    References

    1. ^ David Turton, Mozes Yigezu, Oilsarali Olibui, Mursi-English-Amharic Dictionary, 2009

    (deprecated template usage)

    Japanese

     麒麟 (mythology) on Japanese Wikipedia
    麒麟 (kirin): the statue of a qilin, also known as the Chinese unicorn.
     キリン (giraffe) on Japanese Wikipedia
    麒麟 (kirin): a giraffe.
    Kanji in this term
    麒 麟
    き
    Jinmeiyō     		りん
    Jinmeiyō
    on'yomi

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From Middle Chinese 麒麟 (MC gi lin).

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

    麒(き)麟(りん) or 麒麟(キリン) • (kirin) 

    1. (mythology, Chinese mythology) a qilin
      • 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご)　[青](せい)[龍](りゅう) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:
        それは動(どう)物(ぶつ)のキリン！問(もん)題(だい)の麒(き)麟(りん)は…全(ぜん)身(しん)が黄(き)色(いろ)い鱗(うろこ)で覆(おお)われていて、姿(すがた)は鹿(しか)、牛(うし)の尾(お)と馬(うま)の蹄(ひづめ)を持(も)ち、龍(りゅう)に似(に)た頭(あたま)から１(いっ)本(ぽん)角(つの)が生(は)えてる…中(ちゅう)国(ごく)の伝(でん)説(せつ)上(じょう)の神(しん)獣(じゅう)だよ！
        Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!
        That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!
    2. (shogi) the kirin, a piece in chūshōgi and larger shogi variants
    3. a giraffe (mammal)
      • 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “ＦＩＬＥ(ファイル).５(ご)　[青](せい)[龍](りゅう) [FILE 5: Azure Dragon]”, in 名(めい)探(たん)偵(てい)コナン [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN:
        それは動(どう)物(ぶつ)のキリン！問(もん)題(だい)の麒(き)麟(りん)は…全(ぜん)身(しん)が黄(き)色(いろ)い鱗(うろこ)で覆(おお)われていて、姿(すがた)は鹿(しか)、牛(うし)の尾(お)と馬(うま)の蹄(ひづめ)を持(も)ち、龍(りゅう)に似(に)た頭(あたま)から１(いっ)本(ぽん)角(つの)が生(は)えてる…中(ちゅう)国(ごく)の伝(でん)説(せつ)上(じょう)の神(しん)獣(じゅう)だよ！
        Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwarete ite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haete ru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!
        That’s giraffe(kirin) the animal! The qilin(kirin) we’re talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow’s tail and a horse’s hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragonish head… It’s a mythical beast from Chinese legends!

    Usage notes

    As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as キリン.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Derived terms

    Proper noun

    麒(き)麟(りん) or 麒麟(キリン) • (Kirin) 

    1. a brand of beer

    References


    Korean

    Hanja in this term
    麒麟

    Noun

    麒麟 • (girin or McCune-Reischauer: kirin or Yale: kilin) (hangeul 기린)

    1. hanja form? of 기린 (“giraffe; qilin”)

    Vietnamese

    chữ Hán Nôm in this term
    麒麟

    Noun

    麒麟

    1. chữ Hán form of kì lân (“qilin”).
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