圣 (shèng) — (bound form) holy; sacred; (bound form) sage; saint; (bound form) emperor; imperial
Definition
圣 (shèng) is a bound form almost always part of a compound: 圣人 (sage), 圣诞 (Christmas), 神圣 (sacred), 圣上 (His Majesty). It never stands alone as a noun.
bound form
holysacredsagesaintemperorimperial
Examples
- 。Zhè zuò shān bèi rèn wéi shì shèng dì.This mountain is considered a holy land.
- 。Kǒng zǐ bèi zūn wéi shèng rén.Confucius is revered as a sage.
- 。Dà chén men zūn chēng huáng dì wèi shèng shàng.The ministers respectfully called the emperor 'His Imperial Majesty'.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 聖; 圣 is its simplified writing.
The traditional form 聖 puts 耳 (ear) beside 呈, which gives the sound; the simplified 圣 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical parts.
Appears in
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