사족

Korean

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 蛇足, from 蛇 (“snake”) + 足 (“feet”), with the implication that it is as unnecessary as drawing feet on a picture of a snake. Originally a Chinese chengyu, from a story in the ancient Chinese history Strategies of the Warring States, see 畫蛇添足／画蛇添足 (huàshétiānzú) for more.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰa̠d͡ʑo̞k̚]
Phonetic hangul: [사족]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	sajok
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	sajog
McCune–Reischauer^?	sajok
Yale Romanization^?	sacok

Noun

사족 • (sajok) (hanja 蛇足)

something superfluous, unnecessary
좋은 글을 쓰려면 사족을 걸러야 합니다.
Jo'eun geur-eul sseuryeomyeon sajog-eul geolleoya hamnida.
To write well, one must eliminate the superfluous.
사족으로 덧붙이자면 […]
sajogeuro deotbuchijamyeon […]
just to add something superfluous […]
(used to add further information in a humble manner)

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 四足, from 四 (“four”) + 足 (“feet”).

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰa̠(ː)d͡ʑo̞k̚]
Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)족]
- Though still prescriptive in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	sajok
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	sajog
McCune–Reischauer^?	sajok
Yale Romanization^?	sācok

Noun

사족 • (sajok) (hanja 四足)

(of an animal) four legs, four feet
사족보행로봇
sajokbohaengnobot
quadruped robot
(of a person) four limbs, arms and legs
단 게 있으면 사족을 못 쓴다.
Dan ge isseumyeon sajogeul mot sseunda.
They have a sweet tooth. (idiom)
(literally, “If there is something sweet, they cannot use their four limbs.”)

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 士族, from 士 (“scholar-official”) + 族 (“family, lineage”).

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰa̠(ː)d͡ʑo̞k̚]
Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)족]
- Though still prescriptive in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	sajok
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	sajog
McCune–Reischauer^?	sajok
Yale Romanization^?	sācok

Noun

사족 • (sajok) (hanja 士族)

(historical) a powerful aristocratic family or a scion of such a family