雌黄

雌黄

See also: 雌黃

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 雌黄 – see 雌黃 (“gamboge; orpiment”). (This term, 雌黄, is the simplified form of 雌黃.)

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

雌黄 (shiō, kini): a sample of the mineral orpiment.

Kanji in this term
雌	黄
し Grade: S	おう Grade: 2
on’yomi

/siːwau/ → /ɕiːwɔː/ → /ɕiːoː/

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

Cognate and homophone of 雄黄 (kini, “realgar”). Only differentiated by spelling.

Pronunciation

• On’yomi
  • (Tokyo) しおー [shìóó] (Heiban – [0])[1]
  • IPA^(key): [ɕio̞ː]

Noun

雌黄 (hiragana しおう, rōmaji shiō, historical hiragana しわう)

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) (more common)
• 雄 (ゆう)黄 (おう) (yūō) (rare)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
雌	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.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

雌黄 (hiragana きに, rōmaji kini)

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

Synonyms

• 石黄 (せきおう) (sekiō) (more common)

Related terms

→

• 雄 (き)黄 (に) (kini): realgar, an arsenic sulfide mineral

References

1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN