寺

寺 (Kangxi radical 41, 寸+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 土木戈 (GDI), four-corner 4034₁, composition ⿱土寸(GJKV) or ⿱士寸(HT))

• Note that in Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese scripts, the top half of the character is 土 (instead of 士 as seen in Traditional Chinese), which is also the historical form found in the Kangxi Dictionary.

• 侍, 𠱾, 𭎒, 峙, 待, 持, 洔, 𮥂, 恃, 時(时), 㭙, 𭷅, 歭, 特, 畤, 𪿚, 秲, 𥩳, 𥹩, 𫊵, 𧠴, 𫸺, 詩(诗), 䝰, 跱, 𣊒, 𩶬, 𪀔, 鼭, 𫅌, 𪗺
• 邿, 𪰛, 𪧸, 䓁, 㫭, 等, 𫴶, 庤, 痔, 䦙

• KangXi: page 293, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7414
• Dae Jaweon: page 581, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 503, character 11
• Unihan data for U+5BFA

Historical forms of the character 寺
Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ljɯs) : phonetic 𡳿 (OC *tjɯ, “to go”) + semantic 又 (“hand”) – to grasp, to hold. Phonetic 𡳿 (之) became 土 or 士 in the clerical script from the late Western Han to the Eastern Han, and semantic 又 become 寸 in Small Seal Script. The derivative 持 (OC *l'ɯ) refers to the original word.

The character was often used in the place of a more specialized form. For example, in the Chu Silk Manuscript (see table above) it clearly stood for 時 (OC *djɯ, “season”).

寺

1. (Buddhism) temple; monastery

   白馬寺／白马寺  ―  Báimǎ Sì  ―  White Horse Temple

   少林寺  ―  Shàolínsì  ―  Shaolin Monastery

   哲蚌寺  ―  Zhébàngsì  ―  Drepung Monastery

2. place of worship; shrine

   清真寺  ―  qīngzhēnsì  ―  mosque

3. government court; office (Used before Han dynasty)
4. ^† Original form of 持 (chí, “to hold; to grasp”).

Not used for places of worship of Taoism, Chinese folk religion and Christianity.

• (temple):

寺

1. archaic form of 近侍 referring to eunuchs

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. (Buddhism) temple

• Go-on: じ (ji, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi)
• Kun: てら (tera, 寺, Jōyō)

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[1]

There are various theories regarding the ultimate derivation.

• Some sources[2][3] derive Japanese tera from Middle Korean 졀 (jeol). This is from earlier 뎔 (dyeol, “temple”) and is the nativised reading of 찰 (刹, chal, “Buddhist temple”) below, deriving in turn from Middle Chinese 剎 (MC t͡ʃʰˠɛt̚), shortened from 剎多羅 (MC t͡ʃʰˠɛt̚ tɑ lɑ, “Buddhist monastery, temple or shrine”), borrowed from Sanskrit क्षेत्र (kṣetra, “land, area, domain”).
• Other sources[4] describe Japanese tera as cognate with modern Korean 찰 (刹, chal, “temple”), appearing as a component in terms such as 선찰 (禪刹, seonchal, “Zen temple”), 사찰 (寺刹, sachal, “Buddhist temple”).
• Another derivation[3][4] is given as Pali thera (“elders”) in reference to the monks.

Considering the phonetic development in Korean, the avenues for transmission of Buddhist terms to Japan, and the consistent temple sense of the Japanese term throughout recorded history, the now-obsolete Korean 뎔 (dyeol, “temple”) may be a more likely source than Pali thera (“elders”).

• (Tokyo) てら​ [tèráꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[2][5][6]
• (Tokyo) てら [tèrá] (Heiban – [0])[2]
• IPA^(key): [te̞ɾa̠]

寺(てら) • (tera)  (counter 軒)

1. (chiefly Buddhist) a temple

From Middle Chinese 寺 (MC zɨ^H).

• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑi]

• The pitch accent depends on the suffixed term.

寺(じ) • (-ji) 

1. (chiefly Buddhist) a temple

寺, eumhun 절 사 (jeol sa)

1. Hanja form^? of 사 (“temple”).

• 寺刹 (사찰, sachal)

寺: Hán Nôm readings: tự, chùa

1. Buddhist monastery