漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements
星: star, spot
Also: dot, mark
日 carries the meaning · 生 gives the sound
Three readings, and the words that use each
セイsei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 星座せいざconstellation
- 星雲せいうんnebula, galaxy
- 惑星わくせいplanet
- 衛星えいせいsatellite
- 火星かせいMars
- 一等星いっとうせいfirst-magnitude star
- 北極星ほっきょくせいPolaris, north star
ショウshou · on'yomi
- 明星みょうじょうmorning star, Venus, Lucifer
ほしhoshi · kun'yomi · on its own
- 星ほしstar
- 星占いほしうらないastrology, horoscope
Also read -ぼし, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)晶 twinkling stars (sound) + 生 (sound)
晶 originally referred to this word; a phonetic 生 was added later (Ji Xusheng, 2004). 晶 was later simplified into 日.
Source: Wiktionary, 星 (rev. 92535855), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Sun (日) + life (生). Originally suggested the "sun" giving "birth" to the many small points of light in the sky—the countless "stars."”
Connections
星 takes the 生 family's reading, セイ (sei).
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xīng
Same form: 星 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 星 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 星 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin xīng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.