雄黄

雄黄

See also: 雄黃

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 雄黄 – see 雄黃 (“realgar, an arsenic sulfide”). (This term, 雄黄, is the simplified form of 雄黃.)

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

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Japanese

Etymology 1

雄黄 (yūō, oō): a sample of the mineral orpiment.

Kanji in this term
雄	黄
ゆう Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
on’yomi

/juːwau/ → /juːwɔː/ → /juːoː/

From Middle Chinese compound 雄黃 (hjuwng hwang, literally “male + yellow”), indicating the mineral realgar, in contrast to 雌黄 (tsiɛ hwang, literally “female + yellow”), indicating the mineral orpiment.

Due to similarities between the two minerals, when the term was borrowed into Japanese, the meaning changed from realgar to orpiment.

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) ゆうおー [yùúóó] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [jɯ̟ᵝːo̞ː]

Noun

雄黄 (hiragana ゆうおう, rōmaji yūō, historical hiragana ゆうわう)

1. orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Usage notes

This is the most common reading for this kanji compound.

Synonyms

• 石黄 (せきおう) (sekiō)
• 雌黄 (しおう) (shiō) (rare)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
雄	黄
お Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
yutōyomi

/wowau/ → /owɔː/ → /ooː/

Compound of 雄 (o, “male”, from Old Japanese) +‎ 黄 (ō, “yellow”, from Middle Chinese).

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
  • (Tokyo) おおー [òóó] (Heiban – [0])
  • IPA^(key): [o̞o̞ː]

Noun

雄黄 (hiragana おおう, rōmaji oō, historical hiragana をわう)

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Synonyms

• 石黄 (せきおう) (sekiō)
• 雌黄 (しおう) (shiō) (rare)

Etymology 3

雄黄 (kini): a sample of the mineral realgar.

Kanji in this term
雄	黄
Grade: S	Grade: 2
Irregular

From Old Japanese. Compound of 黄 (ki, “yellow”) +‎ 丹 (ni, “earth, reddish earth”). The kanji are ateji, borrowed from the Chinese term.

Cognate and homophone of 雌黄 (kini, “orpiment”). Only differentiated by spelling.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
  • IPA^(key): [kʲiɲ̟i]

Noun

雄黄 (hiragana きに, rōmaji kini)

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) realgar, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Synonyms

• 鶏冠石 (けいかんせき) (keikanseki) (more common)

Related terms

→

• 雌 (き)黄 (に) (kini): orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9