Chinese

Adjective

太陰

1. lunar

Noun

太陰

1. (astronomy) the moon
2. (literary) extreme coldness

Synonyms

• 月亮 (yuèliàng)

See also

• 太陽／太阳 (tàiyáng)

Japanese

Etymology 1

太陰 (taiin): the moon.

From Middle Chinese 太陰 ‎(thaj^H ʔim, “the moon”, literally “great dark, great yin”). The kan'on, so either a later borrowing or a later development within Japan.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) たいいん [tàííń] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ta̠iĩɴ]

Noun

太陰 ‎(hiragana たいいん, romaji taiin)

1. the moon

Synonyms

• 月: the moon, the lunar cycle, a month
• ムーン ‎(mūn)

Antonyms

• 太陽 (たいよう) ‎(taiyō): the sun

See also

• 恒星 (こうせい) ‎(kōsei): a star

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 太陰 ‎(thaj^H ʔim, “the moon”, literally “great dark, great yin”). The goon, so likely the initial borrowing.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• IPA^(key): [ta̠iõ̞ɴ]

Proper noun

太陰 ‎(hiragana たいおん, romaji Taion)

1. short for 太陰神 (たいおんじん) ‎(Taionjin), goddess of the moon and one of the eight central gods in the Onmyōdō religion

Usage notes

This reading appears to be less common than Daion below.^[1][2][3]

Etymology 3

太陰 (Daion): the Onmyōdō moon goddess.

Sound shift from Taion above, replacing the standard goon and kan'on reading of tai for 太 with the kan'yōon of dai.^[2] Probably influenced by the dai reading of the character 大, which is also sometimes used to spell this name, as seen in the illustration at right.

Pronunciation

• Kan'yōyomi
• (Tokyo) だいおん [dàíóń] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [da̠iõ̞ɴ]

Noun

太陰 ‎(hiragana だいおん, romaji Daion)

1. short for 太陰神 (だいおんじん) ‎(Daionjin), goddess of the moon and one of the eight central gods in the Onmyōdō religion

References

1. 1 2 3 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
3. ↑ 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, ISBN 4-09-501211-0