無常

See also: 无常

Chinese

not have
 
always; ever; often
always; ever; often; frequently; common; general; constant
trad. (無常) 無 常
simp. (无常) 无 常

Pronunciation



Rime
Character 無 常
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial (聲) 明 (4) 常 (25)
Final (韻) 虞 (24) 陽 (105)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed Open
Division (等) III III
Fanqie 武夫切 市羊切
Baxter mju dzyang
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/mɨo/ /d͡ʑɨɐŋ/
Pan
Wuyun
/mio/ /d͡ʑiɐŋ/
Shao
Rongfen
/mio/ /d͡ʑiɑŋ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/muə̆/ /d͡ʑɨaŋ/
Li
Rong
/mio/ /ʑiaŋ/
Wang
Li
/mĭu/ /ʑĭaŋ/
Bernard
Karlgren
/mi̯u/ /ʑi̯aŋ/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
wú cháng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
mou4 soeng4

Adjective

無常

  1. changeable; variable; sporadic; irregular; inconsistent

Derived terms

  • 禍福無常/祸福无常
  • 翻覆無常/翻覆无常
  • 變化無常/变化无常 (biànhuàwúcháng)
  • 變幻無常/变幻无常
  • 貴賤無常/贵贱无常

Noun

無常

  1. (Chinese mythology) Wuchang, one or two deities in Chinese folk religion who seize the spirits of people to the Underworld
  2. (Buddhism) impermanence

Derived terms

  • 無常鬼/无常鬼
  • 白無常/白无常
  • 走無常/走无常

Verb

無常

  1. (euphemistic) to die; to pass away

Synonyms

Derived terms

  • 一旦無常萬事休/一旦无常万事休

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (無常):
  • → Japanese: 無常(むじょう) (mujō)
  • → Korean: 무상(無常) (musang)
  • → Vietnamese: vô thường (無常)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
無 常
む
Grade: 4
じょう
Grade: 5
goon

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 無常 (MC mɨo d͡ʑɨɐŋ), in turn a translation of Pali anicca or Sanskrit अनित्य (anitya).[1]

First cited in a Japanese text in the 勝鬘経義疏 (Shōmangyō Gisho) of 611, one of the three texts grouped together as the 三経義疏 (Sangyō Gisho).[2]

Pronunciation

Adjective

無(む)常(じょう) • (mujō) ←むじやう (muzyau)?-na (adnominal 無(む)常(じょう)な (mujō na), adverbial 無(む)常(じょう)に (mujō ni))

  1. [from 611] transient, impermanent, mutable

Inflection

Noun

無(む)常(じょう) • (mujō) ←むじやう (muzyau)?

  1. [from 611] transience, impermanence, mutability
  2. [from early 1200s] (figurative) death, the impermanence of one's life

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. “無常”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000, →ISBN
  3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  4. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  5. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Vietnamese

Hán tự in this term
無常

Noun

無常

  1. (Buddhism) chữ Hán form of vô thường (“impermanence”).
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.