上人 (shàng rén) — (noun) senior Buddhist monk (used as a title); (noun, dialectal) parents or grandparents; (noun) saint; holy person

Definition

上人 (shǎng) is an honorific title for a senior Buddhist monk, or more broadly a saintly person. In some regional dialects it also means 'parents or grandparents.'

noun
senior Buddhist monk (used as a title)(noun, dialectal) parents or grandparentssaintholy person
Measure word · 位
Easily confused

Examples

  • 上人。
    Zhè wèi shàng rén shì yí wèi zhù míng de chán shī.
    This senior monk is a famous Zen master.
  • ，“上人”。
    Zài wǒ men jiā xiāng huà lǐ, "shàng rén" zhǐ de shì fù mǔ.
    In our hometown dialect, "shǎng" refers to parents.
  • 上人，。
    Tā bèi xìn tú men chēng wéi shàng rén, yīn wèi tā yì shēng xíng shàn.
    He is called a saint by believers because he did good deeds his whole life.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

上shàngabove
人rénperson

“上” gives the sense of above or senior, and “人” means person, so it refers to a revered person.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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