三才

Chinese

		three	ability; talent; endowment ability; talent; endowment; gift; an expert; only (then); only if; just
simp. and trad. (三才)		三	才

Etymology

From the I Ching.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sāncái

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄘㄞˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ coi⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sâm-chhòi
• Wu (Wugniu)
  • (Northern): ¹se-ze

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sāncái
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄘㄞˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sancái
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-tsʻai²
    • Yale: sān-tsái
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: santsair
    • Palladius: саньцай (sanʹcaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ coi⁴
    • Yale: sāam chòih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ tsoi⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ coi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰɔːi̯²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm-chhòi
    • Hakka Romanization System: sam´ coiˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹ coi²
    • Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ t͡sʰoi̯¹¹/
• Wu
  • (Shanghai):
    • Wugniu: ¹se-ze
    • MiniDict: se^平 ze
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹se-ze
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /se⁵⁵ ze²¹/

Noun

三才

1. (historical) the "three talents" - sky (天 (tiān)), earth (地) and people (人 (rén)) (one who knows all three well would be an all-rounded person)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (三才):

• → Japanese: 三才(さんさい) (sansai)
• → Korean: 삼재(三才) (samjae)
• → Vietnamese: tam tài (三才)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
三	才
さん Grade: 1	さい Grade: 2
on’yomi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sã̠ɰ̃sa̠i]

Noun

三(さん)才(さい) • (sansai) 

1. (historical) the "three talents": sky (天), earth (地) and people (人) (one who knows all three well would be an all-rounded person)
2. (figurative) everything in the universe; all of creation
3. (physiognomy) the three key facial features: the forehead, chin, and nose

See also

• 人(にん)相(そう) (ninsō, “physiognomy”)