貴

Translingual

Han character

貴 (Kangxi radical 154, 貝+5, 12 strokes, cangjie input 中一月山金 (LMBUC), four-corner 5080₆, composition ⿱𠀐貝)

Derived characters

• 僓, 𭂟, 嘳, 墤, 嬇, 𭘵, 憒, 撌, 潰, 𤡱, 隤, 𣄜, 𭧫, 樻, 殨, 𤏳, 𤗴, 璝, 膭, 𥀠, 瞶, 𥢢, 䙡, 𥼩, 繢, 聵, 𦪒, 𧑋, 𧗏, 䜋, 𧲆, 𧸃, 蹪, 䠿, 𨎨, 𨣈, 鐀, 靧, 鞼, 𩏡, 饋, 𩡞, 𬳱, 䯣, 𫙷
• 尵, 遺, 𫵒, 𠒺, 𩘺, 𧸯, 𭅁, 䫭, 𬐲, 𡪲, 蕢, 𧷅, 簣, 䰎, 𢊮, 㿉, 𨲿, 𪎯, 闠, 𮤩, 匱, 圚, 𧷩, 𨆨

Descendants

• 贵
• 𛀩

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1206, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36704
• Dae Jaweon: page 1669, character 5
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 3632, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8CB4

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 貴
Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Simplified from 䝿 (臾 → 𠀐). Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *kluds) : phonetic 臾 (OC *ɡruds, *lo) + semantic 貝 (“money cowrie”).

Etymology

From Sino-Tibetan; compare Tibetan གུས (gus, “respect, reverence, devotion”) (Schuessler, 2007; STEDT).

Pronunciation

Definitions

貴

1. expensive; costly

   Antonyms: 廉 (lián), 賤／贱 (jiàn)

   那件衣服很貴，是綢子的。 [MSC, trad.]
   那件衣服很贵，是绸子的。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nà jiàn yīfú hěn guì, shì chóuzi de.

   That dress is expensive. It's made of silk.

2. precious; valuable

   可貴／可贵  ―  kěguì  ―  valuable

   貴金屬／贵金属  ―  guìjīnshǔ  ―  precious metal

   • 民為貴，社稷次之，君為輕。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Mín wéi guì, shèjì cì zhī, jūn wéi qīng.

     The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain are the next; the sovereign is the lightest.

3. superior; noble

   貴族／贵族  ―  guìzú  ―  nobility

   • 富與貴是人之所欲也，不以其道得之，不處也；貧與賤是人之所惡也，不以其道得之，不去也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     富与贵是人之所欲也，不以其道得之，不处也；贫与贱是人之所恶也，不以其道得之，不去也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Fù yǔ guì shì rén zhī suǒ yù yě, bù yǐ qí dào dé zhī, bù chù yě; pín yǔ jiàn shì rén zhī suǒ è yě, bù yǐ qí dào dé zhī, bù qù yě.

     Riches and honors are what men desire. If it cannot be obtained in the proper way, they should not be held. Poverty and meanness are what men dislike. If it cannot be avoided in the proper way, they should not be avoided.

4. to regard as valuable

   成功貴在堅持／成功贵在坚持  ―  chénggōng guì zài jiānchí  ―  Perseverance is vital to success.

   人貴有自知之明／人贵有自知之明  ―  rén guì yǒu zìzhīzhīmíng  ―  A smart man knows how little he knows.

5. (humble) your (to a deity, person or establishment)

   貴國／贵国  ―  guìguó  ―  your country

   您貴姓？／您贵姓？  ―  Nín guìxìng?  ―  What is your surname?

   能否給我些貴公司更詳細的資料？ [MSC, trad.]
   能否给我些贵公司更详细的资料？ [MSC, simp.]

   Néngfǒu gěi wǒ xiē guì gōngsī gèng xiángxì de zīliào?

   Could you give me more details about your company?

6. Short for 貴州／贵州 (Guìzhōu).

   雲貴／云贵  ―  Yúnguì  ―  Yunnan and Guizhou

7. a surname

Synonyms

Usage notes

In Hong Kong and Taiwan, a space is often left before this word when it is used as a humble term of "your" to show respect when writing formal letters, and this practice is known as 抬頭／抬头 (táitóu). This practice, however, is not common in Mainland China.

Compounds

References

• “貴”, 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–
• “Entry #9061”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 6 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. expensive (たかい)
2. worthful, precious (たかい, とうとい, たっとい)
3. superior, aristocratic (たかい, とうとい, たっとい, えらい, あてやか)
4. to esteem (とうとぶ, たっとぶ)

Readings

• Go-on: き (ki, Jōyō)^{←き (ki, historical)←くゐ (kwi, ancient)}
• Kan-on: き (ki, Jōyō)^{←き (ki, historical)←くゐ (kwi, ancient)}
• Kun: たかい (takai, 貴い); たっとい (tattoi, 貴い, Jōyō)^{←たつとい (tatutoi, 貴い, historical)}; とうとい (tōtoi, 貴い, Jōyō)^{←たふとい (tafutoi, 貴い, historical)}; たっとぶ (tattobu, 貴ぶ, Jōyō)^{←たつとぶ (tatutobu, 貴ぶ, historical)}; とうとぶ (tōtobu, 貴ぶ, Jōyō)^{←たふとぶ (tafutobu, 貴ぶ, historical)}
• Nanori: きよ (kiyo); ぎ (gi); たか (taka); たかし (takashi); よし (yoshi)

Compounds

Etymology 1

From Middle Chinese 貴 (MC kjw+jH, literally “precious, noble, superior”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Prefix

貴(き) • (ki-) 

1. (archaic) added to nouns related to people to indicate superiority

   貴(き)公(こう)子(し)、貴(き)婦(ふ)人(じん)、貴(き)賓(ひん)

   kikōshi, kifujin, kihin

   nobleman, noblewoman, superior guest

2. (archaic) added to nouns to indicate respect and possession: your

   貴(き)店(てん)

   kiten

   your store

Derived terms

Suffix

貴(き) • (-ki) 

1. added after nouns related to people to express love and respect

Usage notes

This suffix meaning appears from roughly the Edo period.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Unknown. Possibly cognate with 当て (ate, “aim; expectation, hope”), the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 当(あ)てる (ateru, “to face one thing towards another; to make something hit a target”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Adjective

貴(あて) • (ate) ^†-nari

1. (archaic) noble, aristocratic, high-born
2. (archaic) refined, elegant

Inflection

Noun

貴(あて) • (ate) 

1. (archaic) one's own father (by extension of the “noble” meaning)
   • 1028-1107: 栄花物語 (Eiga Monogatari, “Tale of Splendor”)

     貴(あて)は麿(まろ)をば恋(こい)しとは思(おも)ひ給(たま)はぬか

     Ate wa maro oba koishi to wa omohitamahanu ka

     Doesn't father think I'm his darling?

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Possibly a compound of 身 (mu, “body”) +‎ 霊 (chi, “spirit, essence, soul”). Alternatively, may be an alteration of 睦 (mutsu, “friendly, harmonious”, affix not used in isolation), in a manner similar to the alteration between kamu (combining form) and kami (standalone form) for 神 (“god, spirit”), or kutsu (combining form) and kuchi (standalone form) for 口 (“mouth”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

貴(むち) • (muchi) 

1. (archaic) an honorific term for a deity or person

   大(おお)日(ひ)孁(るめ)の貴(むち)

   ōhirume no muchi

   literally “honorable woman of the great sun”, an epithet for the sun goddess Amaterasu

Derived terms

• 汝(なむち) (namuchi)

Etymology 4

Used as ateji in various names.

References

Korean

Hanja

貴 (eumhun 귀할 귀 (gwihal gwi))

1. Hanja form^? of 귀 (“precious”).

Vietnamese

Han character

貴: Hán Nôm readings: quý, quí, quới

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.