先生
Chinese
early; prior; former; in advance; first |
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
- (literary) one who was born earlier
- 誕彌厥月,先生如達。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Classic of Poetry, circa 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。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
- (literary) father and elder brother
- (literary) ancestor
- (literary) Taoist priest
- (Gan, Hakka, Min, dated in Mandarin and Jin) doctor
- (Cantonese, Gan, Hakka, Min, dated in Mandarin, honorific in Jin) 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.]
- (archaic) female prostitute
Synonyms
- (Taoist priest): 道士 (dàoshì); (humorous) 牛頭/牛头 (niútóu); (Cantonese) 喃嘸佬/喃呒佬; (Min Nan) 師公/师公 (shīgōng)
Dialectal synonyms of 老師 (“teacher”) [map] | ||
---|---|---|
Variety | Location | Words |
Classical Chinese | 師 | |
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 教師 | |
Mandarin | Beijing | 老師 |
Taiwan | 老師 | |
Jinan | 老師, 先生 | |
Xi'an | 老師, 先生 | |
Wuhan | 老師, 教師 | |
Chengdu | 老師, 先生 | |
Yangzhou | 教師, 先生, 老師 | |
Hefei | 教師, 老師, 先生 | |
Cantonese | Guangzhou | 老師, 先生 |
Hong Kong | 老師, 先生, 阿Sir male, 搣匙 female | |
Taishan | 老師, 先生 | |
Yangjiang | 老師, 先生 | |
Gan | Nanchang | 老師, 先生 |
Hakka | Meixian | 老師, 先生 |
Jin | Taiyuan | 老師, 先生 |
Min Bei | Jian'ou | 老師, 先生 |
Min Dong | Fuzhou | 先生, 老師 |
Min Nan | Xiamen | 先生, 老師, 先生人 |
Quanzhou | 先生, 老師, 先生人 | |
Zhangzhou | 先生, 老師, 先生人, 教學仔, 教冊仔 | |
Taipei | 先生, 老師 | |
Kaohsiung | 先生, 老師 | |
Tainan | 先生, 老師 | |
Taichung | 先生, 老師 | |
Hsinchu | 先生 | |
Lukang | 先生, 老師 | |
Sanxia | 先生, 老師 | |
Yilan | 先生, 老師 | |
Kinmen | 先生 | |
Magong | 先生 | |
Penang | 先生, 老師 | |
Philippines (Manila) | 先生 | |
Wu | Shanghai | 老師, 教師, 教書先生 |
Suzhou | 教師, 教書先生 | |
Wenzhou | 教師, 教書先生, 先生 | |
Xiang | Changsha | 老師, 教書先生 |
Shuangfeng | 老師, 教書先生 |
- (female prostitute):
Descendants
Others:
Derived terms
References
- (Min Nan) “Entry #2069”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.
Japanese
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
先 | 生 |
せん Grade: 1 |
せい Grade: 1 |
kan’on |
Etymology
From Middle Chinese 先生 (MC sen|senH ʃˠæŋ|ʃˠæŋH, literally “born earlier”).
Noun
先生 (hiragana せんせい, rōmaji sensei, alternative reading センセー, rōmaji sensē)
- an elder
- a scholar
- a teacher or a professor
- 1984 February 20 [Jun 15 1983], Murakami, Motoka, “
多 感 な季 節 の巻 [A Season Full of Emotions]”, in六 三 四 の剣 [Musashi’s Sword], volume 10 (fiction), 4th edition, 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 Yaegawa 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.
Descendants
Derived terms
Derived terms
- 大先生 (daisensei): great teacher, high authority
Suffix
先生 (hiragana せんせい, rōmaji -sensei)
- a title used after the name of teachers, doctors, lawyers, or certain other professionals
See also
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.