시름

Korean

Etymology

First attested in the Worin seokbo (月印釋譜 / 월인석보), 1459, as Middle Korean 시름〮 (Yale: sìlúm). Perhaps related to 서럽다 (seoreopda). From Old Korean 憂音 (*SILUm).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ɕʰiɾɯm]
• Phonetic hangul: [시름]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	sireum
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	sileum
McCune–Reischauer?	sirŭm
Yale Romanization?	silum

Noun

시름 • (sireum)

1. sorrow; grief; anxiety; a persistent melancholic feeling
   • c. 1790, 樂學拾零 (Akhak Seumnyeong):

     술은언ᄌᆡ나고시름은언ᄌᆡ난지 / 술나고시름난지시름난後(후)술이난지 / 아마도술이난後(후)에시름난가ᄒᆞ노라

     sur-eun eonjae nago sireum-eun eonjae nanji / sul nago sireum nanji sireum nan hu sur-inanji / amado sur-i nan hu-e sireum nan'ga hanora

     I wonder: when came the liquor, and when came the sorrow? / Did the sorrow come after the liquor? Did the liquor come after the sorrow? / Probably, it is after the liquor that the sorrow came.

   • 2020, 김연수 [gimyeonsu, Kim Yeon-su], 일곱 해의 마지막 [ilgop hae'ui majimak, The Last of Seven Years], →ISBN:

     높은 시름이 있고 높은 슬픔이 있는 외로운 사람을 위한 마음

     nopeun sireum-i itgo nopeun seulpeum-i itneun oeroun saram-eul wihan maeum

     a heart for the lonely person with towering grief and towering sadness