漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
寺: Buddhist temple
寸 carries the meaning · 土 gives the sound
Small seal · Qin Today
Small seal: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Two readings, and the words that use each
ジji · on'yomi · in compounds
- 寺院じいんtemple
- 社寺しゃじshrines and temples
- 東大寺とうだいじTodaiji Temple
- 金閣寺きんかくじKinkakuji Temple
てらtera · kun'yomi · on its own
- 寺てらtemple
- 寺参りてらまいりritual visits to a temple
- 尼寺あまでらnunnery, convent
- 山寺やまでらmountain temple
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)之 to go, as 𡳿 (sound) + 又 hand (meaning)
To grasp, to hold. Phonetic 𡳿 (之), which represents a footprint pointing up, became 土 or 士 in the clerical script from the late Western Han to the Eastern Han, and semantic 又 became 寸 in Small Seal Script.
Source: Wiktionary, 寺 (rev. 92725395), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Earth (土) + inch/law (寸). A place built on "earth" where "laws" and rituals are "measured" out—the quiet and orderly space of a "temple."”
Connections
寺 gives its sound to
The family reading is ジ (ji). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · sì
Same form: 寺 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 寺 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 寺 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin sì most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.