寅 U+5BC5, 寅 ← 寄[U+5BC4] CJK Unified Ideographs 密 →[U+5BC6]
寅 (Kangxi radical 40, 宀+8, 11 strokes, Cangjie input 十一中金 (JMLC), four-corner 30806, composition ⿱宀⿳一由八)
- 演, 殥, 璌, 瞚, 縯, 𬙂, 螾, 鏔, 戭, 㪦, 夤, 蔩
- Kangxi Dictionary: page 288, character 5
- Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7204
- Dae Jaweon: page 570, character 1
- Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 2, page 936, character 16
- Unihan data for U+5BC5
simp. and trad. 寅
Originally an ideogram (指事): an arrow 矢 with a distinguishing mark (now 日).
Chen (2019) considers it the original character of 演 (“to advance; to stretch”).
In the modern form the arrowhead has corrupted into 宀.
3rd earthly branch Smith (2011) suggests that this branch denoted the “bending, stretching, drawn out” moon phase, i.e. the waning half-moon with a concave flat edge. Smith points to
- the possible relation between 寅 (OC *lin) and 引 (OC *linʔ, “to stretch, to draw (a bow)”) (noted earlier by James Mellon Menzies); and
- that both graphs 寅 and 引 were used interchangeably as phonophorics for 螾 (OC *lin, *linʔ) and 蚓 (OC *linʔ), meaning “worm”.
Association with the tiger was possibly arbitrary, just like 辰 (chén) with the dragon (see Ferlus, 2013)
寅
- (Classical) to revere; to respect
- 同寅協恭和衷哉！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]同寅协恭和衷哉！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Book of Documents, circa 4th – 3rd century BCETóng yín xié gōng hé zhōng zāi! [Pinyin]When (sovereign and ministers show) a common reverence and united respect for these, lo! the moral nature (of the people) is made harmonious.
- third of twelve earthly branches (十二支)
- tiger (虎) of Chinese zodiac
- “寅”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014-
- “寅”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2026.
(Jinmeiyō kanji)
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
- Go-on: いん (in)
- Kan-on: いん (in)
- Kun: とら (tora, 寅)
- Nanori: とも (tomo)、のぶ (nobu)
Kanji in this term 寅 とらJinmeiyō kun’yomi
From 虎 (tora, “tiger”).
- (Tokyo) とら [tòrá] (Heiban – [0])
- IPA(key): [to̞ɾa̠]
- Homophone: 虎
寅(とら) • (Tora)
- the Tiger, the third of the twelve Earthly Branches Hypernyms: 十二支, 地支 Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥
Kanji in this term 寅 いんJinmeiyō on’yomi
From Middle Chinese 寅 (yin).
寅(いん) • (In)
- the Tiger, the third of the twelve Earthly Branches Hypernyms: 十二支, 地支 Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥
- “▲寅”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia][2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015-2026
寅 • (in, i) (hangeul 인, 이, revised in, i, McCune-Reischauer in, i)
- This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
寅: Hán Việt readings: dần[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] 寅: Nôm readings: dần[1][2][3][5][6][7], dờn[1][2][3][5][6][7], dàn[3][4][5][6][7], dằng[1][3][4], rờn[3][4][6], dớn[5][6][7], rần[1][3], nhớn[3][4], dằn[2], dợn[3], đằn[3], giần[3], lần[3]
- chữ Hán form of Dần (“third of the twelve earthly branches”) Hypernyms: 地支, 十二支 Coordinate terms: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥
- chữ Nôm form of dằng (“used in dùng dằng (“to move reluctantly or indecisively”)”)
- chữ Nôm form of dần
- to tenderize (oftentimes meat) by constant pounding
- little by little; bit by bit; gradually
- chữ Nôm form of rần (“used in rần rật (“describes strong, rapid, repetitive sounds”)”)
