寺

寺 (radical 41, 寸+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 土木戈 (GDI), four-corner 4034₁, composition ⿱土寸(GJKV) or ⿱士寸(HT))

• 侍, 𠱾, 𭎒, 峙, 待, 持, 洔, 時(时), 㭙, 𭷅, 特, 畤, 𪿚, 秲, 𥹩, 𫊵, 𧠴, 詩(诗), 䝰, 跱, 𩶬, 𪀔, 鼭, 𪗺, 邿, 𪰛, 𪧸, 庤, 痔, 㫭, 等, 䦙

• KangXi: page 293, character 33
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7414
• Dae Jaweon: page 581, character 8
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 503, character 11
• Unihan data for U+5BFA

Historical forms of the character 寺
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *ljɯs) : phonetic 止 (OC *kjɯʔ) + semantic 又 (“hand”) – to grasp, to hold. Phonetic 止 (之) became 土 in Clerical Script and semantic 又 become 寸 in Small Seal Script.

The derivative 持 refers to the original word.

寺

1. temple; monastery; (Dungan) mosque
2. government court; office (Used before Han dynasty)

寺

1. archaic form of 近侍 referring to eunuchs

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

• Go-on: じ (ji, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: し (shi)
• Kun: てら (tera, 寺, Jōyō)

From Old Japanese. Found in the Man'yōshū, completed some time after 759 CE.[1]

There are various theories regarding the ultimate derivation.

• Some sources[2][3] derive Japanese tera from Middle Korean 졀 (jyeol). This is from earlier 뎔 (dyeol, “temple”) and is the nativised reading of 찰 (刹, chal, “Buddhist temple”) below, deriving in turn from Middle Chinese 剎 (MC t͡ʃʰˠat̚), shortened from 剎多羅 (MC t͡ʃʰˠat̚ tɑ lɑ, “Buddhist monastery, temple or shrine”), borrowed from Sanskrit क्षेत्र (kṣetra, “land, area, domain”).
• Other sources[4] describe Japanese tera as cognate with modern Korean 찰 (刹, chal, “temple”), appearing as a component in terms such as 선찰 (禪刹, seonchal, “Zen temple”), 사찰 (寺刹, sachal, “Buddhist temple”).
• Another derivation[3][4] is given as Pali thera (“elders”) in reference to the monks.

Considering the phonetic development in Korean, the avenues for transmission of Buddhist terms to Japan, and the consistent temple sense of the Japanese term throughout recorded history, the now-obsolete Korean 뎔 (dyeol, “temple”) may be a more likely source than Pali thera (“elders”).

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) てら​ [tèráꜜ] (Odaka – [2])[2][5][6]
  • (Tokyo) てら [tèrá] (Heiban – [0])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [te̞ɾa̠]

寺 (counter 軒, hiragana てら, rōmaji tera)

1. (chiefly Buddhist) a temple

From Middle Chinese 寺 (MC zɨ^H).

• On’yomi: Goon
  • IPA^(key): [d͡ʑi]
• The pitch accent depends on the suffixed term.

寺 (hiragana じ, rōmaji -ji)

1. (chiefly Buddhist) a temple

寺 • (sa, si) (hangeul 사, 시)

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

• 寺刹 (사찰, sachal)

寺 (tự, chùa)

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