金

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Alternative forms

• 釒／钅 (when used as a left Chinese radical)

Han character

See images of
Radical 167 金

金 (Kangxi radical 167, 金+0, 8 strokes, cangjie input 金 (C), four-corner 8010₉, composition ⿱𫢉䒑)

1. Kangxi radical #167, ⾦.

Derived characters

• Appendix:Chinese radical/金
• 𠊄, 凎, 唫, 𫭾, 𫰾, 𫲧, 崯, 惍, 捦, 淦, 𬯉, 𪯧, 𣔋, 𬊝, 琻, 𫆤, 𥇶, 碒, 𥟨, 䘳, 𥺻, 䋮, 𫋆, 𫍀, 趛, 𩸱, 𪑙
• 崟, 菳, 𥦨, 𫅇, 蓥, 𥯀, 𦑕, 𧟴, 㕋, 𢉅, 㾣, 䦦, 𩰔, 淾

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1295, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40152
• Dae Jaweon: page 1795, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4167, character 1
• Unihan data for U+91D1

• Unihan data for U+F90A

Chinese

Wikipedia has articles on:

• 金 (Written Standard Chinese^?)
• 金 (Cantonese)
• 金 (Classical)
• 金 (Gan)
• kîm (Hakka)
• gĭng (Eastern Min)
• kim (Southern Min)
• 金 (Wu)

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 金
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *krɯm) : semantic 王 (“upside-down axe”) + semantic 呂 (“two blocks of metal”) + phonetic 亼. 亼 is the ancient form for 今 (OC *krɯm). Shuowen interprets it as an image of metal in the earth ('象金在土中形') with 亼 as phonetic.

Originally referred to copper. Later, the meaning was extended to metal as a whole, and then to gold.

Etymology

Starostin reconstructs Proto-Sino-Tibetan *gǝ̆m (“metal”); compare Tedim Chin xam (“gold”) and Lepcha ᰀᰩᰮ (kóm, “silver, coin, money”).

“Copper” > “metals in general” > “gold”.

The main senses now are “gold” and “metal”.

The surname also appears among Manchus and one of its sources is calque of Manchu ᠠᡳᠰᡳᠨ (aisin, “gold”) in ᠠᡳᠰᡳᠨ
ᡤᡳᠣᡵᠣ (aisin gioro). Therefore, part of the Manchu people with this surname are descendants of the Qing imperial family.

Pronunciation

Definitions

金

1. (obsolete) copper (Cu)
2. metal

   合金  ―  héjīn  ―  alloy

3. metalware
4. gold (Au)

   金的顏色和黃銅很相似。 [MSC, trad.]
   金的颜色和黄铜很相似。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jīn de yánsè hé huángtóng hěn xiāngsì.

   Gold is similar in color to brass.

5. golden; blond

   金髮／金发  ―  jīnfà  ―  blond

   他被獎勵了一塊金錶。 [MSC, trad.]
   他被奖励了一块金表。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā bèi jiǎnglì le yīkuài jīn biǎo.

   He received a golden watch as a prize.

6. (by extension) money; material wealth

   現金／现金  ―  xiànjīn  ―  cash

   資金／资金  ―  zījīn  ―  funds

   金錢／金钱  ―  jīnqián  ―  currency

7. (historical) ancient currency unit
8. (historical) gong or other metalware for signalling commands in the military

   金鼓齊鳴／金鼓齐鸣  ―  jīngǔqímíng  ―  the gongs and drums of war sound out in unison

9. respectful; precious

   金玉良言  ―  jīnyùliángyán  ―  precious advice

10. Used in 金城 (jīnchéng).

    金城湯池／金城汤池  ―  jīnchéngtāngchí  ―  strongly fortified city

11. Short for 金星 (Jīnxīng, “Venus”).
12. one of the eight kinds of instruments (八音 (-))
13. metal, one of the five elements of Wu Xing (五行 (-))
14. (Cantonese, cant) fire; flame
15. (Cantonese, cant) roasted

    金豬／金猪 [Cantonese]  ―  gam¹ zyu¹   ―  roasted suckling pig

16. (～朝) (historical) The Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
17. (～朝, ～國) (historical) Synonym of 後金／后金 (Hòujīn), the Jurchen Later Jin state (1616–1636)
18. a surname

    金聖歎／金圣叹  ―  Jīn Shèngtàn  ―  Jin Shengtan (Chinese literary critic)

    金焰  ―  Jīn Yàn  ―  Jin Yan (Chinese actor)

Synonyms

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → Bouyei: jiml (“gold”)
• → Lao: ຄຳ (kham, “gold”)
• → Thai: คำ (kam, “gold”)
• → Zhuang: gim (“gold”)

References

• “Entry #4506”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.
• “金”, 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 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Chemical element
Au
Previous: 白(はっ)金(きん) (hakkin) (白(はっ)金(きん) (hakkin)) (Pt)
Next: 水(すい)銀(ぎん) (suigin) (水(すい)銀(ぎん) (suigin)) (Hg)

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

金

Wikipedia ^ja

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

金属 (Metal)

Wikipedia ^ja

1. gold
2. metal

Readings

• Go-on: こん (kon, Jōyō)^{←こん (kon, historical)←こむ (komu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: きん (kin, Jōyō)^{←きん (kin, historical)←きむ (kimu, ancient)}
• Kun: かな (kana, 金, Jōyō ^†); かね (kane, 金, Jōyō); くがね (kugane, 金); こがね (kogane, 金)
• Nanori: か (ka); かん (kan); きむ (kimu); こ (ko); この (kono)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling of 迦那 ⟨kana⟩. Appears to be the older form of this word. In modern Japanese, only found at the start of compounds.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Prefix

金(かな) • (kana-) 

1. metal
   • 711–712, Kojiki:

     訓金云迦那

     read metal as kana

2. money
3. firmness, strength
4. completely, entirely

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *kanay. First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE with the phonetic man'yōgana spelling of 加尼 ⟨kane⟩.

The four kanji spellings of this term, 金 (“gold”), 銀 (“silver”), 銅 (“copper”), and 鉄 (“iron”), hint at the importance of each of these four metals in ancient Japan.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) かね (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

金(かね) • (kane) 

1. money

   ⇒ お金 (​okane)

2. metal
   • 711–712, Kojiki:

     訓金云加尼

     read metal as kane

Usage notes

The 金 spelling is the most common for this term.

Synonyms

• (money): お金(かね) (o-kane)
• (metal): 金(きん)属(ぞく) (kinzoku)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Compound of 黄 (ku, “yellow”) +‎ 金 (kane, “metal”). The ku is a variation of regular kun'yomi of ki for the 黄 character. The kane changes to gane as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Alternative forms

• 黄金

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

金(くがね) • (kugane) 

1. (archaic) gold

Etymology 4

/kuɡane/ → /koɡane/

Alteration of kugane, possibly influenced by metaphor from 小金 (kogane, “a small amount of money”), or by the kan'on reading of kō for the 黄 character.

Alternative forms

• 黄金

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) こがね (Heiban – )
• (Tokyo) こ​がね (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

金(こがね) • (kogane) 

1. gold
2. gold or metal currency: coins, such as 大判 (ōban) or 小判 (koban)
3. short for 黄金色 (kogane iro, “gold”, the color)
4. short for 黄金の泥 (kogane no dei, “golden mud”, gold dust suspended in an emulsion and used for painting or other decoration)

   ⇒ 金泥 (​kondei)

See also

• 小(こ)金(がね) (kogane): a small amount of money
• 金(こん)泥(でい) (kondei): “golden mud”, gold dust suspended in an emulsion and used for painting or other decoration

Etymology 5

From Middle Chinese 金 (kim). Compare modern Mandarin 金 (jīn).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) き​ん (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

金(きん) • (kin) 

1. gold (Au)
2. money

   金(きん)一(いっ)封(ぷう)をもらった。

   Kin ippū o moratta.

   I received a gift of money.

3. metal
4. (shogi) short for 金将 (kinshō): the gold general (a shogi piece)
5. one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see the "Wu Xing" entry on Wikipedia
6. short for 金曜日 (kin'yōbi): Friday

Usage notes

Often found in compounds.

Derived terms