四海

Chinese

		four	ocean; sea
simp. and trad. (四海)		四	海
Literally: “the four seas”.

Etymology

In Ancient China, it was thought that China was surrounded by ocean on all four sides. Eventually, this phrase came to mean "all four directions" or "everywhere."

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sìhǎi

(Zhuyin): ㄙˋ ㄏㄞˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sei³ hoi²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): si-hói
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): sìr-hái / sù-hái

(Teochew, Peng'im): si³ hai²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sìhǎi
  - Zhuyin: ㄙˋ ㄏㄞˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìhhǎi
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴-hai³
  - Yale: sz̀-hǎi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syhhae
  - Palladius: сыхай (syxaj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sei³ hoi²
  - Yale: sei hói
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sei³ hoi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: séi³ hoi²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sei̯³³ hɔːi̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: si-hói
  - Hakka Romanization System: xi hoi`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: xi⁴ hoi³
  - Sinological IPA: /ɕi⁵⁵ hoi̯³¹/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sìr-hái
  - Tâi-lô: sìr-hái
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sɯ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ hai⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sù-hái
  - Tâi-lô: sù-hái
  - Phofsit Daibuun: suo'hae
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /su²¹⁻⁴¹ hai⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /su¹¹⁻⁵³ hai⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /su²¹⁻⁵³ hai⁵³/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: si³ hai²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sì hái
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /si²¹³⁻⁵⁵ hai⁵²⁻²¹/

Noun

四海

(literary, figurative) the world; the whole world

Synonyms

edit

世 (shì) (literary, or in compounds)
世界 (shìjiè)
域中 (yùzhōng) (literary)
天下 (tiānxià) (literary, figurative)
天跤下 (Min Nan, figurative)

薄海 (bóhǎi) (literary, figurative)
區宇／区宇 (qūyǔ) (literary, figurative)
四國／四国 (sìguó) (literary)
宇內／宇内 (yǔnèi) (literary, figurative)

Derived terms

五洲四海
五湖四海 (wǔhúsìhǎi)
四海一家 (sìhǎi yījiā)
四海鼎沸
目空四海
眼空四海
名揚四海／名扬四海
四海之內皆兄弟／四海之内皆兄弟 (sìhǎi zhī nèi jiē xiōngdì)

四海承風／四海承风
四海昇平／四海升平
四海歸心／四海归心
四海為家／四海为家 (sìhǎiwéijiā)
四海稱臣／四海称臣
放之四海而皆準／放之四海而皆准 (fàng zhī sìhǎi ér jiē zhǔn)
縱橫四海／纵横四海

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