須臾

See also: 须臾

Chinese
necessary; must; need surname; a moment; little while
trad. (須臾) 須 臾
simp. (须臾) 须 臾

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adverb

須臾

  1. (literary) in an instant

Etymology 2

Calque of Sanskrit मुहूर्त (muhūrta).

Noun

須臾

  1. (obsolete, Buddhism, archaic) A unit of time consisting of one-thirtieth of a day (approximately 48 minutes).

Japanese

Etymology 1
Kanji in this term
須 臾
しゅ
Grade: S		 ゆ
Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Appears to be a shift in reading from suyu below, adopting the relatively newer kan'on reading of shu for the first character.

Pronunciation

Noun

須臾 (hiragana しゅゆ, rōmaji shuyu)

  1. a short amount of time, a moment, an instant
  2. (uncommon) a very small number, 10-15

Etymology 2
Kanji in this term
須 臾
す
Grade: S		 ゆ
Hyōgaiji
on’yomi

Probably from Middle Chinese 須臾 (MC sɨo jɨo). The goon reading, so likely the initial borrowing.

Ultimately derived as a meaning-based translation of Sanskrit मुहूर्त (muhūrta, “a moment, instant, any short space of time”), applied to the earlier phonetically transcribed term 牟呼栗多 (MC mɨu huo liɪt̚ tɑ).[2]

This reading appears to be less common than shuyu above.

Pronunciation

Noun

須臾 (hiragana すゆ, rōmaji suyu)

  1. a short amount of time, a moment, an instant
  2. (uncommon) a very small number, 10-15

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
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