真剣

Japanese

Kanji in this term
真 剣
しん
Grade: 3
けん
Grade: S
on’yomi

Etymology

From Middle Chinese compound 真劍 (*tsyin *kjæmH, “real sword”). Compare modern Mandarin 真劍/真剑 (zhēnjiàn).

The original meaning was real sword. Over time, this shifted, and the term is now often used to mean serious.

Pronunciation

Adjective

真剣 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 眞劍, -na inflection, hiragana しんけん, rōmaji shinken)

  1. serious, sincere, intense, honest

Inflection

Synonyms

Noun

真剣 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 眞劍, hiragana しんけん, rōmaji shinken)

  1. seriousness
  2. a real metal sword, as opposed to a wooden or bamboo sword

See also

References

  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third 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.
  • 1998, 広辞苑 (Kōjien), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN
  • 2002, Yasuo Kitahara, 明鏡国語辞典 (Meikyō Kokugo Jiten), First Edition (in Japanese), Tokyo: Taishūkan Shoten, →ISBN
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