shèng

sage, holy

Simplified form of . Depicts listening () to what is spoken (). 𡈼 represents the sound.

Components
又 simplified component

  Simplified component

yòu

  

(hand), again

Shorthand for the component in the traditional character .

土 simplified component

  Simplified component

  

earth

Shorthand for the 𡈼 component in the traditional character .

Evolution

圣 Oracle script (~1250-1000 BC)

Oracle script

(~1250-1000 BC)
圣 Seal script Shuowen (~100 AD)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)
圣 Seal script Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Seal script

Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
圣 Regular script Modern

Regular script

Modern
Definitions

() 

shèng

holy, sacred; sage; holy; sacred; saint

Most common words with 圣
Freq.
Word
Meaning

圣诞

Christmas

holy

圣诞节

Christmas time

圣诞老人

Father Christmas

神圣

divine

Component uses

Sound component in 3 characters (1 verified)

Historical pronunciation

Old Chinese

Middle Chinese

Pinyin

Gloss

*l̥eŋ-s

syengH

shèng

sage (n.)

*kʰuːd

kʰuət̚

to dig


Statistics

HSK level 6

Appears in 46.1317% of movies

541st most common character in movies

960th most common character in books

Miscellaneous

Strokes

5

Traditional

Unicode

U+5723

Shuowen

“圣,汝潁之閒,謂致力於地曰圣。从土,从又。”


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