聖句

Japanese

Kanji in this term
聖	句
せい Grade: 6	く Grade: 5
on'yomi

Etymology

Probably from Middle Chinese 聖句 (MC syengH kjuH, literally “holy, sacred + sentences, phrases”).

Pronunciation

(Tokyo) せーく [séꜜèkù] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]^[2]
IPA^(key): [se̞ːkɯ̟]

Noun

聖(せい)句(く) • (seiku)

a holy or sacred text
(Christianity) Scripture, a passage of Scripture
(figurative) a bible for something
70年(ななじゅうねん)代(だい)ではあの本(ほん)はサラリーマンの聖(せい)句(く)でした。
Nanajū nendai de wa ano hon wa sararīman no seiku deshita.
During the 70s, that book was the salaryman's bible.

References

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN