서인

Korean

Etymology 1

Sino-Korean word from 庶人, from 庶 (“ordinary”) + 人 (“person”).

Pronunciation

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

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	seoin
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	seoin
McCune–Reischauer^?	sŏin
Yale Romanization^?	sēin

Noun

서인 • (seoin) (hanja 庶人)

(historical) in dynastic East Asia, a commoner without royal or aristocratic privileges
세자 를 폐하여 서인으로 삼아라.
seja-reul pyehayeo seoin-euro samara.
Have the Crown Prince removed from his rank and render him into a commoner.

Etymology 2

Sino-Korean word from 西人, from 西 (“West”) + 人 (“person”).

The political faction was named as such because they were initially the supporters of the royal in-law Sim Ui-gyeom, who lived in the western part of Seoul.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰʌ̹in]
Phonetic hangul: [서인]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	seoin
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	seoin
McCune–Reischauer^?	sŏin
Yale Romanization^?	sein

Noun

서인 • (seoin) (hanja 西人)

(rare) Westerner
Synonym: 서양인(西洋人)

Proper noun

서인 • (Seoin) (hanja 西人)

(historical) a political faction in the Korean court which emerged in a dispute over the appropriate powers of royal in-laws in the 1570s, and which held power for most of the seventeenth century
Hypernym: 붕당(朋黨)

Hyponyms: 노론(老論), 소론(少論)

Coordinate terms: 동인(東人), 남인(南人), 북인(北人)

Etymology 3

Nativisation of the Sino-Korean term 성인 (聖人, seong'in, “saint, sage”).

Noun

서인 • (seoin)

Gyeongsang and Hamgyong form of 성인(聖人) (“saint, sage”)
(Hamgyong) a holy Buddhist priest, a supernaturally potent priest