三才

Chinese

		three	ability; talent; endowment ability; talent; endowment; gift; an expert; only (then); only if; just
simp. and trad. (三才)		三	才

Etymology

From the I Ching.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sāncái

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄢㄘㄞˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ coi⁴
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sâm-chhòi
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹se-ze

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sāncái
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢㄘㄞˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sancái
  - Wade–Giles: san¹-tsʻai²
  - Yale: sān-tsái
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: santsair
  - Palladius: саньцай (sanʹcaj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: saam¹ coi⁴
  - Yale: sāam chòih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ tsoi⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ coi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰɔːi̯²¹/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm-chhòi
  - Hakka Romanization System: sam^ˊ coi^ˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹ coi²
  - Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ t͡sʰoi̯¹¹/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹se-ze
  - MiniDict: se^平 ze
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹se-ze
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /se⁵⁵ ze²¹/

Noun

三才

(historical) the "three talents" - sky (天 (tiān)), earth (地) and people (人 (rén)) (one who knows all three well would be an all-rounded person)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (三才):

→ Japanese: 三才(さんさい) (sansai)
→ Korean: 삼재(三才) (samjae)
→ Vietnamese: tam tài (三才)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
三	才
さん Grade: 1	さい Grade: 2
on'yomi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [sã̠ɰ̃sa̠i]

Noun

三(さん)才(さい) • (sansai)

(historical) the "three talents": sky (天), earth (地) and people (人) (one who knows all three well would be an all-rounded person)
(figurative) everything in the universe; all of creation
(physiognomy) the three key facial features: the forehead, chin, and nose

See also

人(にん)相(そう) (ninsō, “physiognomy”)