기린

Korean

A giraffe brought from Somalia in the 1414.

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 麒麟. The archaic sense of legendary animal is attested in the two-millenia old Confucianist Classic of Rites that reads bonghwang-girin (鳳凰麒麟).[1] Since Admiral Zheng He took the giraffe from Somalia to China in 1414, this Hanja word was equated with Somali geri or the like meaning "giraffe" then (See Citations:기린), which on the other hand may have influenced the etymology of Italian giraffa (since Medici giraffe in 1486) and its European derivatives via Arabic زَرَافَة (zarāfa).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key)[kiɾin]
  • Phonetic Hangul[]
Revised Romanization? girin
Revised Romanization (translit.)? gilin
McCune–Reischauer? kirin
Yale Romanization? kilin

Noun

기린 (girin) (counter 마리, hanja 麒麟)

  1. a giraffe (mammal)
  1. (Chinese mythology) a qilin

Synonyms

  • 지라프 (jirapeu) (rarely used)

Derived terms

See also

References

  1. 민중서관편집국편. 新字海. 민중서림
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