僧人 (sēng rén) — monk | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

僧人 is the more formal, written-style word for a Buddhist monk, more common in texts and titles than 和尚, which is the everyday spoken term.

noun

monk

Measure word · 位

Examples

僧人。
Sì miào lǐ de sēng rén shēng huó hěn jiǎn dān.
The life of monks in the temple is very simple.
僧人。
Zhè wèi sēng rén yǐ jīng xiū xíng le èr shí nián.
This monk has been practicing for twenty years.
僧人。
Yóu kè men xiàng sēng rén qǐng jiào fó jiào zhī shi.
Tourists ask the monk about Buddhist knowledge.

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.

A 僧 is a religious person; with 人, 僧人 denotes a monk.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

亻曾僧

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rénperson

Sound part声符shēngfú

曾

曾céng僧sēng

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left 亻 shows a person, and the right 曾 supplies the sound, so 僧 marks a kind of person.

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.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 7-9 Religion & Belief

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