寺

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

寺 (Kangxi radical 41, 寸+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 土木戈 (GDI), four-corner 4034₁, composition ⿱土寸(GJKV) or ⿱士寸(HT))

Alternative forms

• Note that in Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese scripts, the top half of the character is 土 (instead of 士 as seen in Traditional Chinese), which is also the historical form found in the Kangxi Dictionary.

Derived characters

• 侍, 𠱾, 𭎒, 峙, 待, 持, 洔, 𮥂, 恃, 時(时), 㭙, 𭷅, 歭, 特, 畤, 𪿚, 秲, 𥩳, 𥹩, 𫊵, 𧠴, 𫸺, 詩(诗), 䝰, 跱, 𣊒, 𩶬, 𪀔, 鼭, 𫅌, 𪗺
• 邿, 𪰛, 𪧸, 䓁, 㫭, 等, 𫴶, 庤, 痔, 䦙

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 293, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7414
• Dae Jaweon: page 581, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 503, character 11
• Unihan data for U+5BFA

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 寺
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *ljɯs) : phonetic 𡳿 (OC *tjɯ, “to go”) + semantic 又 (“hand”) – to grasp, to hold. Phonetic 𡳿 (之) became 土 or 士 in the clerical script from the late Western Han to the Eastern Han, and semantic 又 become 寸 in Small Seal Script. The derivative 持 (OC *l'ɯ) refers to the original word.

The character was often used in the place of a more specialized form. For example, in the Chu Silk Manuscript (see table above) it clearly stood for 時 (OC *djɯ, “season”).

Etymology

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

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

寺

1. (historical) government court; office (before the Han dynasty)

   大理寺  ―  Dàlǐsì  ―  Court of Judicature and Revision

2. (Buddhism) temple; monastery

   白馬寺／白马寺  ―  Báimǎsì  ―  White Horse Temple

   少林寺  ―  Shàolínsì  ―  Shaolin Monastery

   哲蚌寺  ―  Zhébàngsì  ―  Drepung Monastery

3. place of worship; shrine

   清真寺  ―  qīngzhēnsì  ―  mosque

   仙鶴寺／仙鹤寺  ―  Xiānhèsì  ―  Crane Mosque

   西敏寺  ―  Xīmǐnsì  ―  Westminster Abbey

4. (obsolete) Original form of 持 (chí, “to hold; to grasp”).
5. a surname

Usage notes

Not used for places of worship of Taoism and Chinese folk religion.

Synonyms

• (temple):

Compounds

Descendants

Pronunciation 2

Definitions

寺

1. (obsolete) internal court official, especially a eunuch

Further reading

• “寺”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. (Buddhism) temple

Readings

• Go-on: じ (ji, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi)
• Kun: てら (tera, 寺, Jōyō)

Compounds

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Nihon Shoki of 720 CE, and in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.

There are various theories regarding the ultimate derivation.

• Some sources derive Japanese tera from an ancestor of Middle Korean 졀 (jeol) (likely Baekje). This is from earlier 뎔 (dyeol, “temple”) and is the nativised reading of 찰 (刹, chal, “Buddhist temple”) below, deriving in turn from Middle Chinese 剎 (MC tsrhaet), shortened from 剎多羅 (MC tsrhaet ta la, “Buddhist monastery, temple or shrine”), borrowed from Sanskrit क्षेत्र (kṣetra, “land, area, domain”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *ṭṣáytram, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćšáytram, from Proto-Indo-European *tḱéytrom.
• Other sources describe Japanese tera as cognate with modern Korean 찰 (刹, chal, “temple”), appearing as a component in terms such as 선찰 (禪刹, seonchal, “Zen temple”), 사찰 (寺刹, sachal, “Buddhist temple”).
• Another derivation is given as Pali thera (“elders”) in reference to the monks.

Considering the phonetic development in Korean, the avenues for transmission of Buddhist terms to Japan, and the consistent temple sense of the Japanese term throughout recorded history, the now-obsolete Korean 뎔 (dyeol, “temple”) may be a more likely source than Pali thera (“elders”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) てら​ (Odaka – )
• (Tokyo) てら (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

寺(てら) • (tera)  (counter 軒)

1. (chiefly Buddhism) a temple

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 寺 (MC ziH).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• The pitch accent depends on the suffixed term.

Suffix

寺(じ) • (-ji) 

1. (chiefly Buddhism) a temple

References

Korean

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

Pronunciation

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

Hanja

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

寺

Wikisource

寺 (eumhun 절 사 (jeol sa))

1. Hanja form^? of 사 (“temple”).

Compounds

• 寺刹 (사찰, sachal)

Vietnamese

Han character

寺: Hán Nôm readings: tự, chùa

1. Buddhist monastery