犧牲

See also: 牺牲

Chinese

		sacrifice	domestic animal
trad. (犧牲)		犧	牲
simp. (牺牲)		牺	牲

Etymology

"sacrifice (animal)" (pre-Qin) -> "to immolate" (c. 1840) -> "to sacrifice" (c. 1900).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xīshēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ ㄕㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hei¹ sang¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): hî-sên
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): hi-sng / hi-seng

  (Teochew, Peng'im): hi¹ sêng¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīshēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ ㄕㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sisheng
    • Wade–Giles: hsi¹-shêng¹
    • Yale: syī-shēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shisheng
    • Palladius: сишэн (sišɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
    • Homophones:

      [Show/Hide]
      edit edit 吸聲／吸声 犧牲／牺牲

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hei¹ sang¹
    • Yale: hēi sāng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hei¹ sang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: héi¹ seng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hei̯⁵⁵ sɐŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hî-sên
    • Hakka Romanization System: hi´ sen´
    • Hagfa Pinyim: hi¹ sen¹
    • Sinological IPA: /hi²⁴⁻¹¹ sen²⁴/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hi-sng
    • Tâi-lô: hi-sng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hisngf
    • IPA (Singapore): /hi⁴⁴⁻²² sŋ̍⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hi³³ sŋ̍³³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hi-seng
    • Tâi-lô: hi-sing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hisefng
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /hi⁴⁴⁻²² siɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Singapore): /hi⁴⁴⁻²² seŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /hi⁴⁴⁻³³ siɪŋ⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: hi¹ sêng¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: hi seng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hi³³⁻²³ seŋ³³/

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• Middle Chinese: xje sraeng

Rime
Character	犧	牲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	曉 (32)	生 (21)
Final (韻)	支 (13)	庚 (109)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II
Fanqie	許羈切	所庚切
Baxter	xje	sraeng
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/hˠiᴇ/	/ʃˠæŋ/
Pan Wuyun	/hᵚiɛ/	/ʃᵚaŋ/
Shao Rongfen	/xiɛ/	/ʃaŋ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/hjiə̆/	/ʂaɨjŋ/
Li Rong	/xje/	/ʃɐŋ/
Wang Li	/xǐe/	/ʃɐŋ/
Bernard Karlgren	/xie̯/	/ʂɐŋ/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xī	shēng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	hei1	sang1

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*hŋral  sreŋ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	犧
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xī
Middle Chinese	‹ xje ›
Old Chinese	/*ŋ̊(r)a[j]/
English	sacrificial animal
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	犧	牲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	13057	11313
Phonetic component	我	生
Rime group	歌	耕
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	犧	生
Old Chinese	/*hŋral/	/*sreŋ/

Noun

犧牲

1. sacrifice (animal presented to a deity, deceased ancestor, etc.)

   • 犧牲玉帛，弗敢加也，必以信。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     牺牲玉帛，弗敢加也，必以信。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

     Xīshēng yùbó, fú gǎn jiā yě, bì yǐ xìn. [Pinyin]

     I dare not exaggerate the amount of sacrifices, jade, and silk offered to the gods; I always tell the gods the truth.

Verb

犧牲

1. to give one's life for a certain cause; to sacrifice oneself

   壯烈犧牲／壮烈牺牲  ―  zhuàngliè xīshēng  ―  to die a hero's death

2. (figuratively) to sacrifice (give away something valuable); to give up; to abandon; to discard

   「有些人」根本沒救，廢死徒犧牲了正義 [MSC, trad.]
   「有些人」根本没救，废死徒牺牲了正义 [MSC, simp.]

   “yǒuxiē rén” gēnběn méi jiù, fèisǐ tú xīshēng le zhèngyì [Pinyin]

   "Some people" are basically incurable, death penalty abolition merely sacrifices justice

Synonyms

• (to give one's life):

• 捐軀／捐躯 (juānqū)
• 捨身／舍身 (shěshēn)
• 獻身／献身 (xiànshēn)
• 赴死 (fùsǐ)
• 陣亡／阵亡 (zhènwáng) (to die in battle)

 

• (to give up):

• 丟掉／丢掉 (diūdiào)
• 丟棄／丢弃 (diūqì)
• 割 (literary, or in compounds)
• 割捨／割舍 (gēshě) (literary)
• 屏棄／屏弃 (bǐngqì)
• 廢棄／废弃 (fèiqì)
• 扔掉 (rēngdiào)
• 扔棄／扔弃 (rēngqì)
• 拋／抛 (pāo)
• 㧒捒 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 㧒捔 (Xiamen Hokkien, Zhangzhou Hokkien)
• 拋棄／抛弃 (pāoqì)
• 捐 (literary, or in compounds)
• 捨去／舍去 (shěqù) (literary)
• 捨棄／舍弃 (shěqì)
• 揕捒 (Hokkien)
• 揚棄／扬弃 (yángqì)
• 摒棄／摒弃 (bìngqì)
• 擯棄／摈弃 (bìnqì)
• 擯除／摈除 (bìnchú)
• 擲捒／掷捒 (Hokkien)
• 放捒 (Hokkien)
• 放棄／放弃 (fàngqì)
• 放生 (Singapore Hokkien)
• 棄絕／弃绝 (qìjué) (literary)
• 甩捒 (Hokkien)
• 甩掉 (shuǎidiào)
• 遺棄／遗弃 (yíqì)
• 離棄／离弃 (líqì)

 

Derived terms

• 工資犧牲／工资牺牲 (gōngzī xīshēng)
• 犧牲品／牺牲品 (xīshēngpǐn)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (犧牲):

• → Japanese: 犠(ぎ)牲(せい) (gisei)
• → Korean: 희생(犧牲) (huisaeng)
• → Vietnamese: hi sinh (犧牲)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
犧	牲
ぎ Hyōgaiji	せい Grade: S
on’yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 犧牲 – see the following entry.

【犠牲ぎせい】 [noun] sacrifice [noun] casualty, victim, especially of a disaster

(This term, 犧牲, is the kyūjitai of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja in this term
犧	牲

Noun

犧牲 • (huisaeng) (hangeul 희생)

1. Hanja form^? of 희생 (“sacrifice”).

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
犧	牲

Verb

犧牲

1. chữ Hán form of hi sinh (“to sacrifice”).