星霜

Chinese

star; satellite; small amount frost
trad. (星霜)
simp. #(星霜)

Etymology

From the thought that a star revolves around the heavens in a year while frost occurs every year, hence a symbol of time.

Pronunciation


Noun

星霜

  1. (literary, figurative) time; years
  2. (literary, figurative) stars and frost in the morning; hardship; difficulty

Adjective

星霜

  1. (literary, figurative) gray; grizzled

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (星霜):
  • Japanese: 星霜(せいそう) (seisō)
  • Korean: 성상(星霜) (seongsang)
  • Vietnamese: tinh sương (星霜)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
せい
Grade: 2
そう
Grade: S
on'yomi

Etymology

seisau > seisɔː > seisoː. Literally "stars and frost", from the thought that a star revolves around the heavens in a year while frost occurs every year, hence a symbol of time.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [se̞ːso̞ː]

Noun

(せい)(そう) • (seisōせいさう (seisau)?

  1. time, years
  2. one year

See also

Korean

Hanja in this term

Noun

星霜 • (seongsang) (hangeul 성상)

  1. hanja form? of 성상

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term

Noun

星霜

  1. chữ Hán form of tinh sương