尋

尋 (Kangxi radical 41, 寸+9, 12 strokes, cangjie input 尸一一口戈 (SMMRI), four-corner 1734₆, composition ⿳𫜹⿰工口寸(GJV) or ⿳⺕⿰工口寸(HTK))

• 𠎅, 噚, 𡑎, 㜦, 𡼢, 𢒫, 憳, 撏, 潯, 𨼔, 攳, 𣎟, 樳, 燖, 𤛧, 璕, 𦠅, 𥖇, 𥢛, 襑, 𦅀, 蟳, 𧫿, 鐞, 𪿃, 鱘
• 𠟢, 鄩, 𢿼, 䫮, 彠, 蕁, 𥳍

• KangXi: page 295, character 12
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7447
• Dae Jaweon: page 586, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 510, character 1
• Unihan data for U+5C0B

Historical forms of the character 尋
Shang	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意) : 工 (“work”) + 口 (“mouth, talk”) + 又 (“hand”) + 寸 (“hand”) – to seek out, with hands and mouth (asking).

Note that top hand is not in 又 shape, but rather resembles 彐; this is an earlier form of hand (fingers); see etymology of 又.

unit of length; arm span

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la(ː)m (“armspan; fathom; cord”) (STEDT). Cognate with Mizo hlam (“measurement (armspan)”), Burmese လှမ်း (hlam:, “to reach out”).

to seek; to search

Attested since the Eastern Han dynasty. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

尋

1. to seek; to search; to look for

   喂，儂尋啥人？ [Shanghainese, trad.]
   喂，侬寻啥人？ [Shanghainese, simp.]

   [ɯe̞⁵³ nʊŋ²³ ʑ̥ɪɲ²³ sa̱³³ n̠ʲɪɲ⁴⁴] [IPA]

   Hello, who are you looking for?

   • 丞相祠堂何處尋，錦官城外柏森森。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     丞相祠堂何处寻，锦官城外柏森森。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 760 CE, 杜甫 (Du Fu), 蜀相 (Shu's minister); translated by Stephen Owen

     Chéngxiàng cítáng héchù xún, Jǐnguānchéng wài bǎi sēnsēn. [Pinyin]

     The shrine hall to the Minister, where can it be found? —outside the walls of Brocade City, where the cypress tree stands dense.

2. an ancient unit of length equivalent to eight chis; arm span

   • 徂來之松，新甫之柏。是斷是度，是尋是尺。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     徂来之松，新甫之柏。是断是度，是寻是尺。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Cúlái zhī sōng, Xīnfǔ zhī bǎi. Shì duàn shì dù, shì xún shì chǐ. [Pinyin]

     The pines of Cu-lai, and the cypresses of Xin-fu, were cut down and measured, with the cubit line and the eight cubits line.

3. (literary) soon; before long

   • 南陽劉子驥，高尚士也，聞之，欣然親往。未果，尋病終。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     南阳刘子骥，高尚士也，闻之，欣然亲往。未果，寻病终。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Peach Blossom Spring (桃花源記), by Tao Yuanming, 421 (Wiktionary translation)

     Nányáng Liú Zǐjì, gāoshàng shì yě, wén zhī, xīnrán qīn wǎng. Wèiguǒ, xún bìng zhōng. [Pinyin]

     Liu Ziji of Nanyang was a noble scholar who heard of this, and joyously set out for it, but to no avail; he died of illness shortly afterwards.

4. a surname

See 尋日／寻日.

尋

1. (Cantonese) yesterday

(common “Jōyō” kanji)

1. fathom

• Go-on: じん (jin, Jōyō)^{←じん (zin, historical)←じむ (zimu, ancient)}
• Kan-on: しん (shin)^{←しん (sin, historical)←しむ (simu, ancient)}
• Kun: たずねる (tazuneru, 尋ねる, Jōyō); あたためる (atatameru, 尋める); ついで (tsuide, 尋いで); ひろ (hiro, 尋)
• Nanori: ちか (chika); つね (tsune); のり (nori); ひつ (hitsu); ひろ (hiro); ひろし (hiroshi); みつ (mitsu)

尋 (eum 심 (sim))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

尋: Hán Nôm readings: tầm, tìm, tùm, chầm

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.