紫

紫 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+6, 12 strokes, cangjie input 卜心女戈火 (YPVIF), four-corner 2190₃, composition ⿱此糸)

• 㗪 橴 䔝 𫄕 𨄐 𥲕 𬈶 𬎏 𬠭 𮬒

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 919, character 29
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27337
• Dae Jaweon: page 1350, character 12
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3392, character 12
• Unihan data for U+7D2B

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *ʔseʔ): phonetic 此 (OC *sʰeʔ) + semantic 糸.

紫

1. purple; violet; magenta; crimson (combination of red and blue colours)
2. a surname

• “紫”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[2], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “紫”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
• 李如龙 [Li, Ru-long], 刘福铸 [Liu, Fu-zhu], 吴华英 [Wu, Hua-ying], 黄国城 [Huang, Guo-cheng] (2019) “紫”, in 莆仙方言调查报告 [Investigation Report on Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 158.

(Jōyō kanji)

• Go-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi, Jōyō)
• Kun: むらさき (murasaki, 紫, Jōyō)
• Nanori: あかね (akane)、しおり (shiori)、さい (sai)、ゆかり (yukari)

From Old Japanese.

Possibly a compound of 群 (mura, “gathering, group”) +‎ 咲き (saki, “blooming”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 咲く (saku), “to bloom”).^[1]

• (Tokyo) むらさき [mùráꜜsàkì] (Nakadaka – [2])^[3][2]
• IPA^(key): [mɯ̟ɾa̠sa̠kʲi]

• (Kyoto) むら​さき [mùráꜜsàkì] (Teiki)^[2]

紫(むらさき) or 紫(ムラサキ) • (murasaki) 

1. the purple or red-root gromwell, Lithospermum erythrorhizon

   Synonym: 紫草 (murasakisō)

   • 905–914, Kokin Wakashū (book 17, poem 867)

     紫(むらさき)のひともと故(ゆゑ)に武(む)蔵(さし)野(の)の草(くさ)はみながらあはれとぞ見(み)る

     murasaki no hitomoto yue ni Musashino no kusa wa minagara aware to zo miru

     Because of one shoot of murasaki grass, I feel fondness for all the plants and grasses on the plain of Musashino.^[4]

2. the root of the murasaki used as a natural dye
3. short for 紫色 (murasaki-iro): the color purple
4. (colloquial, from its purplish color) synonym of 醤油 (shōyu): soy sauce
5. (colloquial) a woman
6. (archaic women's speech) synonym of 鰯 (iwashi): a sardine, especially the Japanese pilchard, Sardinops sagax
7. (historical, from being allowed to wear purple clothing) synonym of 検校 (kengyō): the highest ranked blind court official

• As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as ムラサキ (murasaki).

• 茜(あかね)さす (akane sasu, pillow word that can be an allusion to murasaki)

紫(むらさき) • (Murasaki) 

1. (historical, colloquial, from 江戸紫 (Edo murasaki, “royal purple”), where the dye is traditionally made in) Edo, the de facto capital of the Tokugawa shogunate
2. (colloquial) short for 紫式部 (Murasaki Shikibu): Heian-period novelist and lady-in-waiting
3. (colloquial, by extension) synonym of 源氏物語 (Genji Monogatari): The Tale of Genji
4. a female given name
5. a surname

/si/ → /ɕi/

From Middle Chinese 紫 (MC tsjeX).

Also used in the Man'yōshū (c. 759 CE) as 借音 (shakuon) kana for ⟨si⟩.

紫(し) • (shi) 

1. purple

From 縁 (yukari, “affinity, connection”).

紫(ゆかり) • (Yukari) 

1. a female given name

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Middle Korean readings, if any”)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕa̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [자]

Wikisource

紫 • (ja) (hangeul 자, revised ja, McCune–Reischauer cha, Yale ca)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Related to Japanese 紫 (murasaki, “purple”)

紫(むらさち) (murasachi) 

1. the color purple

Possibly a compound of 群 (mura, “gathering, group”) +‎ 咲き (saki₁, “blooming”, the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of verb 咲く (saku), “to bloom”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

紫 (murasaki₁) (kana むらさき)

1. the purple or red-root gromwell, Lithospermum erythrorhizon
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 14, poem 3500:
     , text here

     牟良佐伎波根乎可母乎布流比等乃兒能宇良我奈之家乎祢乎遠敝奈久尓

     murasaki₁ pa ne wo ka mo wopuru pi₁to₂ no₂ ko₁ no₂ ura-ganasike₁ wo ne wo wope₁naku ni

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. the color purple
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 12, poem 2976:
     , text here

     紫我下紐乃色尓不出戀可毛将痩相因乎無見

     murasaki₁ no₂ waga sitabi₁mo no₂ iro₂ ni idezu ko₁pi₂ ka mo yasemu apu yo₂si wo nami₁

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

• 紫の (murasaki₁ no₂, pillow word)
• 紫野 (murasaki₁no₁)

• Japanese: 紫 (むらさき, murasaki)

• 茜さす (akane sasu, pillow word that can be an allusion to murasaki₁)

紫: Hán Việt readings: tử, tía

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

• Nom Foundation