Chinese

Pronunciation

Noun

大人

1. adult; grown-up

Synonyms

• 成人 (chéngrén)

Etymology 2

Reborrowing from Japanese 大人 ‎(taijin) for the historical Min Nan sense.

Pronunciation

Noun

大人

1. Your Excellency; His Excellency
2. (Taiwanese Min Nan, dated) sir (form of address used by ordinary citizens to address police officers during Taiwan's Japanese era)

Antonyms

• 小人 (xiǎorén)

Derived terms

References

• Iûⁿ, Ún-giân (2006), “Query for 大人”, in 台文/華文線頂辭典 [On-line Taiwanese/Mandarin Dictionary (Tai-gi Hôa-gí Sòaⁿ-téng Sû-tián)] (in Chinese and Min Nan).
• “Entry #221”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese and Min Nan), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2011.

Japanese

Etymology 1

From late Old Japanese, more specifically Early Middle Japanese.^[1] Appears in sources from the Heian period. Derivation unknown. Possibly related to obsolete verb おとなう ‎(otonau, “to visit someone; to make a sound, to speak aloud”).

The spelling is jukujikun (熟字訓).

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) おとな [òtóná] (Heiban - [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [o̞tõ̞na̠]

Alternative forms

• 乙名 (only for the leader senses)

Noun

大人 ‎(hiragana おとな, romaji otona)

1. an adult, a grown-up
   • 2010 December 8, Hideaki Sorachi, “二に度どあることは三さん度どある [Twice, Thrice That There Are]”, in 銀ぎん魂たま [Silver Soul], volume 37 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Shueisha, ISBN 978-4-08-870145-5:

     まずはこのローションをかぶってだな

     Mazu wa kono rōshon o kabutte da na

     First we slap on some lotion

     ちょっと待 (ま)てぇぇぇ‼　それどこの大人 (おとな)のプールぅ⁉

     Chotto matēē‼ Sore doko no otona no pūrū⁉

     Hold o-o-on‼ Are you tryin' ta turn this place into an adult poo-ool!?

2. (uncommon, possibly archaic) a leader:
   1. an elder of a group or community
   2. in the late Muromachi period, the representative of a village or guild
   3. the head lady-in-waiting
   4. one's wife
   5. in the Edo period, a kind of civil servant working in Nagasaki
   6. the head servant

Etymology 2

From Old Japanese.^[1] Appears in the Nihon Shoki, completed in 720 CE. Derivation unknown.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• (Tokyo) う​し [úꜜshì] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ɯᵝɕi]

Alternative forms

• 卿

Noun

大人 ‎(hiragana うし, romaji ushi)

1. (honorific) a lord, a landowner
2. an honorific form of reference for a scholar or teacher, or one's own father
3. an honorific form of reference for the addressee

Etymology 3

From Middle Chinese 大人 ‎(/dɑi^H ȵʑjen/, literally “big, great + person”). Compare modern Cantonese reading daai⁶ jan⁴, Min Nan tāi-jîn.

The kan'on reading, so likely a later borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) たいじん [tàíjíń] (Heiban - [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [ta̠id͡ʑĩɴ]

Noun

大人 ‎(hiragana たいじん, romaji taijin)

1. a large person
2. a giant
3. an adult
4. a person of high rank, a ruler or noble
5. an honorific form of reference for a scholar or teacher, or one's own parent
6. a daimyo

Synonyms

Etymology 4

From Middle Chinese 大人 ‎(/dɑi^H ȵiɪn/, literally “big, great + person”). Compare modern Hakka reading thai-ngìn.

The goon reading, so likely an earlier borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) だいにん [dàíníń] (Heiban - [0])^[2][3]
• IPA^(key): [da̠ĩnĩɴ]

Noun

大人 ‎(hiragana だいにん, romaji dainin)

1. an adult, a grown-up
2. (Buddhism) the Buddhas and bodhisattvas

References

1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 1 2 3 4 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
3. 1 2 3 4 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, ISBN 978-4-14-011112-3

Korean

Noun

大人 • ‎(daein) ‎(hangeul 대인)

1. Hanja form^? of 대인, “adult”.
2. noble man, gentleman, magnanimous man

Okinawan

Noun

大人 ‎(hiragana うふっちゅ, romaji ufutchu)

1. adult

Vietnamese

Noun

大人

1. Hán tự form of đại nhân, “noble man”