士

士 (Kangxi radical 33, 士+0, 3 strokes, cangjie input 十一 (JM), four-corner 4010₀, composition ⿱十一)

1. Kangxi radical #33, ⼠.
2. Shuowen Jiezi radical №9

• Appendix:Chinese radical/士
• 仕, 𫸑, 𢩿, 𬚯, 𥾘, 𧺑, 𬐂, 𪐢, 𫣸, 𤴶, 㐊, 吉, 志, 毐, 𰧭, 𥑟, 悫, 槖, 賣, 𧶠, 蠧, 𡆮, 𣪊, 𥒃

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 242, character 38
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5638
• Dae Jaweon: page 482, character 38
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 416, character 1
• Unihan data for U+58EB

Pictogram (象形) – a war axe. Later, it took the meaning of "soldier" and eventually "officer, intellectual". Partly related to 王 since in at least two characters it should represent a ritual axe, perhaps made of jade: in fact, it is related to 圭 and 金 despite their appearance.

"bachelor, man, male"

• Reminiscent of Austroasiatic synonyms like Old Khmer si (“male”) or MK words for "man, male" like *ʔŋsiil, *ensir, *kəsəy on the Malay Peninsula; Schuessler (2007) noted that foreign *-r sometimes left traces in OC initial complex. These relations, if, valid, would keep 士₁ "bachelor, man, male" distinct from 士₂ "servant, retainer, officer, scholar".

"take or give an office, serve", "servant", "retainer", "officer", "scholar"

• Schuessler (2007) noted that one could naturally assume the semantic development "male > man > servant > to serve" in order to posit that 士₁ "bachelor, man, male" is the same word as 士₂ "servant, retainer, officer, scholar". Yet, the exopassive derivation 事 (OC *ʔsrɯs, *zrɯs) "assignment, affair, thing" and Tibeto-Burman counterparts demonstrated no association with "man, maleness"; & "male" hardly derives from "to serve".
• Therefore, Schuessler derived these forms from 理 (OC *rɯʔ) "envoy, jail official, matchmaker" & proposed ultimate Austroasiatic origins. In terms of phonology, MC *dʐ- normally does not occur with *l- and *ʂ in an ST word-family, apparently confirming a non-ST provenance; however, MC *dʐ- here could go back to OC *s-r- (unlike MC *ʂ-, which is from OC *sr)
• Subsequenly, Schuessler posited either relation to Austroasiatic or OC loan into Tibeto-Burman as Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ʔ-dzəj (“send on an errant”) (Matisoff, 2003), whence Burmese စာ (ca, “thing”) & Tibetan རྫས (rdzas, “thing, matter, object”) (Gong, 1999). Even so, Tibeto-Burman cognates of this etymon and 所 (suǒ) are difficult to distinguish.

士

1. (obsolete) unmarried male; bachelor

   • 求我庶士、迨其吉兮。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Qiú wǒ shù shì, dài qí jí xī. [Pinyin]

     For those many bachelors who seek me, now is favorably timely.

2. (obsolete, honorific) man

   • 女曰：「雞鳴。」士曰：「昧旦。」 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     女曰：「鸡鸣。」士曰：「昧旦。」 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Nǚ yuē: “Jīmíng.” Shì yuē: “Mèidàn.” [Pinyin]

     I the wife say: "It is the cock-crow." Ye the husband say: "It is grey-dawn."

   • 士為知己者死，女為悅己者容。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     士为知己者死，女为悦己者容。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Shì wèi zhījǐzhě sǐ, nǚ wèi yuèjǐzhě róng. [Pinyin]

     A man will die for one who understands him, a lady will adorn herself for one who loves her.

3. (obsolete) general; high-ranking military officer
4. (obsolete) soldier; noncommissioned officer

   士兵  ―  shìbīng  ―  soldier

5. (historical) scholar-official (civil servant appointed by the emperor of China to perform day-to-day governance)
6. (historical) self-appellation used by scholar-officials in ancient China, when addressing the emperor: I; subject
7. (historical) a social stratum in ancient China

   • 無恆產而有恆心者，惟士為能。若民，則無恆產，因無恆心。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     无恒产而有恒心者，惟士为能。若民，则无恒产，因无恒心。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Wú héngchǎn ér yǒu héngxīn zhě, wéi shì wéi néng. Ruò mín, zé wú héngchǎn, yīn wú héngxīn. [Pinyin]

     They are only men of education (i.e., the shi), who, without a certain livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people (i.e. lower commoners), if they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart.

   • 士貴耳，王者不貴。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
     士贵耳，王者不贵。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

     From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

     Shì guì ěr, wángzhě bù guì. [Pinyin]

     It is the shi that is noble, not the king.

   • 民之愚，不學而已；士之愚，則學非所學而益愚。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     民之愚，不学而已；士之愚，则学非所学而益愚。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1903. Zou Rong, The Revolutionary Army

     Mín zhī yú, bù xué éryǐ; shì zhī yú, zé xué fēi suǒ xué ér yì yú. [Pinyin]

     The uneducated commoners are ignorant simply because they do not study. The shi studies what is not worth studying, thus he becomes even more stupid.

8. scholar; academic; intellectual; intelligentsia

   博士  ―  bóshì  ―  doctor; doctoral degree

   院士  ―  yuànshì  ―  academician

   居士  ―  jūshì  ―  lay Buddhist or retired scholar

9. (honorific, obsolete) suffix for a virtuous, knowledgeable or skilled person: commendable person

   女士  ―  nǚshì  ―  Lady

   護士／护士  ―  hùshì  ―  nurse

   人士  ―  rénshì  ―  public figure

   助產士／助产士  ―  zhùchǎnshì  ―  midwife

10. (xiangqi) adviser; guard; minister: 🩨 (usually only on the black side, in some sets on both red and black sides)
11. (obsolete) alternative form of 仕 (shì, “to be an official”)
12. a surname

• 士 is commonly used to render the /s/ sound (not followed by a vowel) in foreign names, e.g. 威士忌 (wēishìjì, “whiskey”), 巴士 (bāshì, “bus”), which is from Cantonese usage.

• (Chinese chess pieces) 帥 / 帅 (shuài) / 將 / 将 (jiàng), 仕 (shì) / 士 (shì), 相 / 象 (xiàng), 俥 / 伡 / 車 / 车 (jū), 傌 / 㐷 / 馬 / 马 (mǎ), 炮 / 砲 / 炮, 兵 (bīng) / 卒 (zú)

士

1. (music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note low la (6̣).

   Synonym: 四 (sì) (Kunqu)

• “士”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00831
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A00740-002

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

• Go-on: じ (ji)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kun: さむらい (samurai, 士)、つかさ (tsukasa)
• Nanori: ひと (hito)

• (Tokyo) し [shíꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [ɕi]

士(し) • (shi) 

1. samurai, warrior

士(し) • (-shi) 

1. person with a certain qualification

   弁(べん)護(ご)士(し)

   bengoshi

   a lawyer

   会(かい)計(けい)士(し)

   kaikeishi

   an accountant

From Middle Chinese 士 (MC dzriX).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰa̠(ː)]
• Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Wikisource

士 (eumhun 선비 사 (seonbi sa))

1. hanja form^? of 사 (“scholar; gentleman; soldier”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

士: Hán Nôm readings: sĩ, sỹ

1. chữ Hán form of sĩ (“scholar; soldier”)

• Nom Foundation