刺

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See also: 刾, 剌, and 制
刺 U+523A, 刺
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-523A
← 刹
 		CJK Unified Ideographs 刻 →
刺 U+F9FF, 刺
CJK COMPATIBILITY IDEOGRAPH-F9FF
← 茶
 		CJK Compatibility Ideographs 切 →

Translingual

Han character

刺 (Kangxi radical 18, 刀+6, 8 strokes, cangjie input 木月中弓 (DBLN), four-corner 52900, composition ⿰朿刂)

Derived characters

References

  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 139, character 13
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 1969
  • Dae Jaweon: page 316, character 4
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 333, character 2
  • Unihan data for U+523A

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 刺
alternative forms 㓨／刾
𣐁
𪑟

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (朿) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
債 *ʔsreːɡs, *ʔsreːɡ
積 *ʔseɡs, *ʔseɡ
刺 *sʰeɡs, *sʰeɡ
莿 *sʰeːɡs, *raːds
刾 *sʰeɡs
朿 *sʰeɡs
漬 *zeɡs
耫 *zraːd, *zreːɡ
嘖 *ʔsraːɡ, *ʔsreːɡ, *zreːɡ
梀 *sreːɡ, *sʰloːɡ, *sloːɡ, *l̥ʰoɡ
捒 *sreːɡ, *sroɡs, *sroɡs
幘 *ʔsreːɡ
簀 *ʔsreːɡ
嫧 *ʔsreːɡ, *sʰreːɡ, *sʰeɡ
謮 *ʔsreːɡ
責 *ʔsreːɡ
皟 *sʰreːɡ
憡 *sʰreːɡ
策 *sʰreːɡ
筴 *sʰreːɡ, *kreːb, *keːb
拺 *sʰreːɡ, *sreːɡ
賾 *zreːɡ
鰿 *zreːɡ, *ʔseɡ
擌 *sreːɡ
蹟 *ʔseɡ
襀 *ʔseɡ
磧 *sʰeɡ
洓 *sʰeɡ
績 *ʔseːɡ
勣 *ʔseːɡ
樍 *ʔseːɡ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *sʰeɡs, *sʰeɡ) : phonetic 朿 (OC *sʰeɡs) + semantic 刂 (“knife”).

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-tshyar ~ *g-zyar (“thorn, nail, tack”) (provisional) (STEDT); cognate with Tibetan ཚེར་མ (tsher ma, “thorn, thorn bush”), གཟེར་བ (gzer ba, “to bore into”), and གཟེར (gzer, “nail”) (Schuessler, 2007).

刺 (OC *tsekh) "attack, satirize" (Zuozhuan) < "criticize" (Shijing) < lit. "cause to be stabbed" is exopassive/exoactive derivation of 刺 (OC *tsek) "pierce, stab" (ibid.); 朿 (OC tsʰieC) "thorn" (SW) is Han period's general tone-C derivation of 刺 (OC *tsʰiek) (ibid.)

Pronunciation 1

Note:
  • chhì - vernacular (Xiamen, Zhangzhou) (“pointed structure”);
  • chhù - literary (Xiamen, Zhangzhou).
Rime
Character 刺
Reading # 1/2
Initial (聲) 清 (14)
Final (韻) 支 (11)
Tone (調) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 七賜切
Baxter tshjeH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/t͡sʰiᴇH/
Pan
Wuyun 		/t͡sʰiɛH/
Shao
Rongfen 		/t͡sʰjɛH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/t͡sʰiə̆H/
Li
Rong 		/t͡sʰieH/
Wang
Li 		/t͡sʰǐeH/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/t͡sʰie̯H/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		cì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		ci3
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 刺
Reading # 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		cì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ tshjeH ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ek-s/
English sharp point, thorn

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 刺
Reading # 1/2
No. 1746
Phonetic
component 		朿
Rime
group 		賜
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		刺
Old
Chinese 		/*sʰeɡs/
Definitions

刺

  1. a pointed structure which is able to pierce something (spike, spine, thorn, etc.)
  2. (literary, or in compounds) visiting card
Descendants
Sino-Xenic (刺):
  • → Japanese: 刺(し) (shi)

Pronunciation 2

Note:
  • chhiah - vernacular (“to stab; to sew; to tattoo; to pick out; to expose; prickly; to remind someone during a fight”);
  • chhì - vernacular (Xiamen, Zhangzhou) (“to stab (Mainland); dazzling”);
  • chhù - literary (Xiamen, Zhangzhou).
Rime
Character 刺
Reading # 2/2
Initial (聲) 清 (14)
Final (韻) 清 (123)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 七迹切
Baxter tshjek
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/t͡sʰiᴇk̚/
Pan
Wuyun 		/t͡sʰiɛk̚/
Shao
Rongfen 		/t͡sʰiæk̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/t͡sʰiajk̚/
Li
Rong 		/t͡sʰiɛk̚/
Wang
Li 		/t͡sʰĭɛk̚/
Bernard
Karlgren 		/t͡sʰi̯ɛk̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		qi
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		cik1
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 刺
Reading # 2/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		cì
Middle
Chinese 		‹ tshjek ›
Old
Chinese 		/*ek/
English pierce, stab

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 刺
Reading # 2/2
No. 1780
Phonetic
component 		朿
Rime
group 		錫
Rime
subdivision 		0
Corresponding
MC rime 		皵
Old
Chinese 		/*sʰeɡ/
Definitions

刺

  1. to stab; to prick
  2. (literary, or in compounds) to kill discreetly; to assassinate discreetly
    被刺  ―  bèi cì  ―  to be assassinated
    荊軻刺秦王／荆轲刺秦王  ―  Jīng Kē cì qín wáng  ―  Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin
  3. (literary, or in compounds) to criticize with pointed words
  4. (literary, or in compounds) to pry into; to investigate
  5. (literary, or in compounds) to stimulate
    刺耳  ―  cì'ěr  ―  ear-piercing
  6. (literary, or in compounds or Southern Min) to provoke; to irritate (through light, sound, heat, etc.)
  7. (fencing) to thrust; to attack the opponent at an area parallel to the weapon's length
  8. (fencing) thrust
    假直刺  ―  jiǎ zhí cì  ―  feint direct thrust
  9. a surname: Ci
  10. (Hokkien, by extension) to sew; to weave; to knit; to embroider
  11. (Hokkien, by extension) to tattoo
  12. (Mainland China Hokkien) dazzling; glaring
  13. (Mainland China Hokkien) to pick out; to pluck out
  14. (Taiwanese Hokkien) to expose; to bring to light
  15. (Taiwanese Hokkien) prickly and uncomfortable (as if being pricked by needles)
  16. (Zhangzhou Hokkien) to remind someone during a fight of the number of times one has given favors to that person
Synonyms
  • (to stab): 捅 (tǒng), (Hokkien) 𠡡
  • (to kill discreetly):
  • (to criticize with pointed words):
  • (to pry into):
  • (to knit):
  • (to expose):

Pronunciation 3

Definitions

刺

  1. sound of rubbing

Pronunciation 4

Definitions

刺

  1. Only used in 刺促 (qìcù).

Compounds

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of 刺 – see 赤 (“red; brown; etc.”).
(This character is a variant form of 赤).

References

Japanese

Kanji

刺

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

Readings

From Middle Chinese 刺 (MC tshjeH, “spike, thorn; calling card”):

From Middle Chinese 刺 (MC tshjek, “prick, stab; criticize with pointed words”):

Compounds

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
刺
とげ
Grade: S
kun’yomi

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

刺(とげ) • (toge) 

  1. a thorn, prickle
  2. a splinter
  3. a biting word

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
刺
さ(し)
Grade: S
kun’yomi

Nominalization of the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 刺す (sasu, “to pierce; to prick, sting”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

刺(さし) • (sashi) 

  1. Short for 米刺 (komesashi): a small tool used to extract a sample of rice from a bag in order to test its quality
  2. (historical) in the Edo period, a paper string used to store ぜに (zeni, “round coins with a square hole in the center”)
  3. Short for 刺身 (sashimi): sliced pieces of fish or other meat
Derived terms

Etymology 3

Kanji in this term
刺
いら
Grade: S
irregular

Ultimately from Proto-Japonic *era.

Alternative forms

Noun

刺(いら) • (ira) 

  1. a thorn, prickle
  2. the spine (needle-like structure) of a fish's dorsal fin
  3. Short for 刺草 (irakusa): nettle
  4. Short for 刺虫 (iramushi): the larva of the 刺蛾 (iraga, “Monema flavescens”), a species of moth
  5. the horn-like projections of 金平糖 (konpeitō, “sugar candy of varying colors and flavors”)
  6. Synonym of 水母 (kurage): a jellyfish
Derived terms

Etymology 4

Kanji in this term
刺
し
Grade: S
on’yomi

/si/ → /ɕi/

From Middle Chinese 刺 (MC tshjeH).

Pronunciation

Noun

刺(し) • (shi) 

  1. a thorn, prickle, needle
  2. a calling card, name card
    Synonyms: 名札 (nafuda), 名刺 (meishi)

Affix

刺(し) • (shi) 

  1. stab, prick
  2. criticize with pointed words
  3. spike, thorn
  4. name card
Derived terms
Derived terms

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK Publishing, →ISBN

Korean

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 刺 (MC tshjeH).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key):
  • Phonetic hangul:
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

Wikisource

刺 (eumhun 찌를 자 (jjireul ja))

  1. Hanja form? of 자 (“spike; thorn”).
  2. Hanja form? of 자 (“to stab; to prick”).

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 刺 (MC tshjek).

Historical readings

Pronunciation

Hanja

刺 (eumhun 찌를 척 (jjireul cheok))

  1. Hanja form? of 척 (“to stab; to prick”).

Compounds

Compounds

Etymology 3

Hanja

刺 (eumhun 나무랄 체 (namural che))

  1. (literary Chinese) Hanja form? of 체 (“scold”).

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

刺: Hán Việt readings: thích, thứ
刺: Nôm readings: chích

  1. Nôm form of chích (“to prick”).
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia