仙

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

仙 (Kangxi radical 9, 人+3, 5 strokes, cangjie input 人山 (OU), four-corner 2227₀, composition ⿰亻山)

Derived characters

• 𣳈, 苮, 𥬍, 𬏣

Related characters

• 僊 (archaic form of 仙)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 92, character 13
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 374
• Dae Jaweon: page 196, character 3
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 114, character 3
• Unihan data for U+4ED9

Chinese

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 仙

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 仙
Transcribed ancient scripts L31826 L31827 L31828 L06560 L06561 L06562 L06563 L06564 L06565
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) and phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sen) : semantic 亻 (“person”) + phonetic 山 (OC *sreːn, “mountain”) — a person moving into a mountain to practise becoming immortal.

Originally 僊. The current form is first attested in the clerical script of the Han dynasty.

Etymology 1

A relatively late word, perhaps Sino-Tibetan (Schuessler, 2007). Compare Tibetan གཤེན (gshen, “shaman”), as in Tibetan གཤེན་རབ (gshen rab, “Shenrab”), the founder of the Tibetan religion Bon, although this might be a loan from Chinese (ibid.). Starostin sets up Proto-Sino-Tibetan *sn (“a kind of demon”), comparing it to Tibetan བསེན་མོ (bsen mo, “female devil”) and Jingpho sawn (“malignant female nat”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

仙

1. (Taoism) xian (an immortal; celestial being)
2. (figurative) extraordinary person

   詩仙／诗仙  ―  shīxiān  ―  great poet; epithet of Li Bai

3. (agent affix, chiefly Southern Min, honorific) expert; a title for a person with a specific expertise

   相命仙 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  siòng-miā-sian [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  fortuneteller

4. (agent affix, chiefly Southern Min, ironic) person with some specific hobby or addiction

   筊仙 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  kiáu-sian [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  gambler

5. a euphemism for the deceased

   仙逝  ―  xiānshì  ―  to pass away

6. (Southern Min) Classifier for deity, idol, statue, doll. Alternative form of 身 (sian)

   Synonym: 尊 (zūn)

   大仙的王爺公，細仙的王爺囝。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
   大仙的王爷公，细仙的王爷囝。 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

   Tōa sian--ê ông-iâ kong, sè sian--ê ông-iâ kiáⁿ. [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

   (idiomatic) Idols of Wang Ye's are everywhere. Literally, “The bigger idol is a senior Wang Ye; the smaller idol is a junior Wang Ye.”

7. (Southern Min) (with negative) whatsoever, any way

   仙講都毋聽／仙讲都毋听 [Taiwanese Hokkien]  ―  sian kóng to m̄ thiaⁿ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  won't listen (to you) no matter what you say

8. a surname

Descendants

Others:

• → Thai: เซียน (siian) (via Hokkien)

Compounds

See also

• 真人 (zhēnrén)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English cent.

Pronunciation

Definitions

仙

1. (Cantonese, Southern Min, Malaysian and Singapore Mandarin) cent (Classifier: 個／个 c)

   五仙硬幣／五仙硬币 [Cantonese]  ―  ng⁵ sin¹ ngaang⁶ bai⁶   ―  five-cent coin

   佢係私生子，佢老豆死嗰陣一個仙都冇分畀佢。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   佢系私生子，佢老豆死嗰阵一个仙都冇分畀佢。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   keoi⁵ hai⁶ si¹ sang¹ zi², keoi⁵ lou⁵ dau⁶ sei² go² zan⁶ jat¹ go³ sin¹ dou¹ mou⁵ fan¹ bei² keoi⁵.

   He is a son born out of wedlock, so when his dad died, he didn't even inherit one cent.

Synonyms

Compounds

See also

• 斗零, 神沙, 鏰／镚 (bèng)

Etymology 3

From clipping of English senior.

Pronunciation

Definitions

仙

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) senior

Derived terms

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: せん (sen, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: せん (sen, Jōyō)
• Nanori: そま (soma); のり (nori); ひさ (hisa)

Compounds

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 仙 (MC sjen, literally “immortal”). Compare modern Mandarin reading xiān and Cantonese reading sin¹.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

仙(せん) • (sen) 

1. a sage or hermit, an enlightened person, usually immortal and ageless
2. (mythology) short for 仙人 (sennin): a wizard or mage; an immortal living as a hermit in the mountains
3. by extension, the region or area where a sennin lives
4. the supernatural techniques for becoming immortal and ageless
5. a person of exceptional talent

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English cent. The kanji spelling is an example of jukujikun.

Usage notes

This word is almost always spelled in katakana as セント.

See also

• 弗(ドル) (doru)

References

Korean

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 仙 (MC sjen). Recorded as Middle Korean 션 (syen) (Yale: syen) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

仙

Wikisource

仙 (eumhun 신선 선 (sinseon seon))

1. Hanja form^? of 선 (“a sage or hermit, an enlightened person, usually immortal and ageless”).

Compounds

References

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

Vietnamese

Han character

仙: Hán Nôm readings: tiên

Noun

仙

1. xian, Immortal(Taoism)
2. fairy
3. celestial