先生
Chinese
early; prior; former early; prior; former; in advance; first |
to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| simp. and trad. (先生) |
先 | 生 | |
| Literally: “one who was born earlier”. | |||
Pronunciation
Noun
先生
- An honorific for adults, usually conferred on males: mister; sir; gentleman
- husband
- (literal, Classical) one who was born earlier
- 誕彌厥月，先生如達。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Dàn mí jué yuè, xiānshēng rú dá. [Pinyin]
- When she had fulfilled her months,
Her first-born son [came forth] like a lamb.
诞弥厥月，先生如达。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
- (literary) father and elder brother
- (literary) ancestor
- (literary) Taoist priest
- (Gan, Hakka, Min, dated in Mandarin and Jin) doctor
- (honorific in Mandarin, Jin; common in Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Min) teacher
- 他在學堂的時候，先生問他：「直隸省的西邊是哪一省？」他說是陝西。先生說：「錯了，是山西，不是陝西。」他說：「陝西同山西，不是差不多嗎？」 [MSC, trad.]
- From: 1924, Hu Shih, Life of Mr. Close Enough
- Tā zài xuétáng de shíhòu, xiānshēng wèn tā: “Zhílì Shěng de xībiān shì nǎ yī shěng?” Tā shuō shì Shǎnxī. Xiānshēng shuō: “Cuò le, shì Shānxī, bùshì Shǎnxī.” Tā shuō: “Shǎnxī tóng Shānxī, bùshì chābùduō ma?” [Pinyin]
- When he went to school, the teacher asked him: "Which province is west of Zhili Province?" He answered Shaanxi. The teacher said: "Wrong, it is Shanxi, not Shaanxi." He said: "Would Shaanxi and Shanxi not be close enough?"
他在学堂的时候，先生问他：「直隶省的西边是哪一省？」他说是陕西。先生说：「错了，是山西，不是陕西。」他说：「陕西同山西，不是差不多吗？」 [MSC, simp.]
- (obsolete or Wu) female prostitute
- (Singapore Hokkien) traditional Chinese physician
Usage notes
Some females are also referred with the term 先生, however, this term is reserved for older and highly respected ones only, e.g. Soong Ching-ling, He Xiangning and Yang Jiang. For most instances 女士 (nǚshì, “Ms.”) is used. Whether this term can be used for females is still a topic being debated among scholars.
Synonyms
- (husband):
Dialectal synonyms of 丈夫 (“husband”) [map]
- (Taoist priest):
- (doctor):
Dialectal synonyms of 醫生 (“doctor; physician”) [map]
- (teacher):
Dialectal synonyms of 老師 (“teacher”) [map]
- (female prostitute):
Derived terms
References
- (Min Nan) “Entry #2069”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.
Japanese
Etymology 1
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 先 | 生 |
| せん Grade: 1 |
せい Grade: 1 |
| kan’on | |
From Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen|senH sraeng|sraengH, literally “born earlier”).
Noun
先生 • (sensei)
- an elder
- a scholar
- a teacher or a professor
- 1984 February 20 [1983 June 15], Motoka Murakami, “多感な季節の巻 [A Season Full of Emotions]”, in 六三四の剣 (六三四の剣) [Musashi’s Sword], 4th edition, volume 10 (fiction), Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN, pages 161–162:
- 学校のみんなも先生のことさ好いてる……母っちゃすきか⁉
- Gakkō no minna mo Sensei no koto sa suiteru…… Katcha suki ka⁉
- Everybody at school likes Sensei…… Ya like him, Ma⁉
- Mochiron suki yo‼ Honto ni ii sensei desu mono…
- Of course‼ He’s a very good teacher…
- Ora mo suki dā. N demo, Sensei wa Sensei dā… Ora no totcha ni wa narenē!
- Ah like him, too. But Sensei’s only Sensei… He could never be mah pa!
- E…⁉ Sore… hyotto shite, watakushi to Yaegashi Sensei ga kekkon surutte koto……⁉
- What…⁉ Wait… You think I’m gonna marry Yaegashi Sensei……⁉
- 学校のみんなも先生のことさ好いてる……母っちゃすきか⁉
- sensei (Japanese martial arts teacher)
- sir, a polite form of address to teachers, doctors, etc.
Usage notes
- This is a term of respect, reserved only for speaking about others, and considered somewhat impolite (immodest) to use when referring to oneself. Instead, the term 教師 (kyōshi, “teacher”, literally “teaching + teacher”) is considered more socially appropriate when referring to oneself.
- This is an example of a word that can be spelled with katakana to convey an informal conversational tone, as センセー.
Derived terms
- 大先生 (daisensei): great teacher, high authority
Descendants
Suffix
先生 • (-sensei)
- a title used after the name of teachers, doctors, lawyers, or certain other professionals
See also
References
- Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.
Okinawan
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 先 | 生 |
| しん Grade: 1 |
しー Grade: 1 |
| on’yomi | |
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