Translingual

Han character

寿 (radical 41 寸+4, 7 strokes, cangjie input 手大木戈 (QKDI), composition ⿸⿻三丿寸)

1. old age, long life
2. lifespan

References

• KangXi: not present, would follow page 294, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 7419
• Dae Jaweon: page 581, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 1, page 504, character 4
• Unihan data for U+5BFF

Chinese

Japanese

Kanji

(common “Jōyō” kanji, shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai form 壽)

1. longevity, long life
2. congratulations

Readings

• Goon: じゅ (ju)
• Kan’on: しゅう (shū) (non-Jōyō reading)
• Kan’yōon: す (su)
• Kun: ことぶき (kotobuki), ことぶく (寿く, kotobuku), ことほぐ (寿ぐ, kotohogu)
• Nanori: かず (kazu), じ (ji), じゅう (jū) すっ (sut), すみ (sumi), とし (toshi), としかつ (toshikatsu), なが (naga), のぶ (nobu), のり (nori), ひさ (hisa), ひさし (hisashi), やす (yasu), やすし (yasushi)

Compounds

Etymology 1

The shinjitai, or Japanese simplified form, of 壽. From Middle Chinese 壽 ‎(dzyuw^X, “longevity”).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) じゅ​ [júꜜ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑɯᵝ]

Noun

寿 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 壽, hiragana じゅ, romaji ju)

1. years of age

Idioms

• 寿 (じゅ)を上 (たてまつ)る ‎(ju o tatematsuru): to toast someone with a prayer for long life

Etymology 2

Nominalization of the 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 寿く ‎(kotobuku), itself an alteration of earlier root form kotohoku, a compound of 言 ‎(koto, “words, speech”) +‎ 祝く ‎(hoku, “to pray for a good outcome”, obsolete in modern Japanese).^[2]

The meaning shifted over time from to say something in prayer for a good outcome to a more general to say something favorable in hope for or upon a felicitous or auspicious occasion. From there, the meaning expanded to include long life.

This long life meaning was apparently already in use when the kanji was first imported and applied to this word.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) こと​ぶき [kòtóꜜbùkì] (Nakadaka - [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞to̞bɯᵝkʲi]

Noun

寿 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 壽, hiragana ことぶき, romaji kotobuki)

1. congratulations, felicitations
2. something worthy of congratulations
3. long life, longevity

Etymology 3

Nominalization of the 連用形 ‎(ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb 寿ぐ ‎(kotohogu), itself an alteration of earlier root form kotohoku, a compound of 言 ‎(koto, “words, speech”) +‎ 祝く ‎(hoku, “to pray for a good outcome”, obsolete in modern Japanese).^[2]

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) ことほぎ​ [kòtóhógíꜜ] (Odaka - [4])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞to̞ho̞ɡ̃i]

Noun

寿 ‎(shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 壽, hiragana ことほぎ, romaji kotohogi)

1. congratulations, felicitations
2. something worthy of congratulations
3. long life, longevity

Usage notes

The kotohogi reading does not appear to be as common as the kotobuki reading further above.

Etymology 4

Used as ateji for various names.

Proper noun

寿 ‎(hiragana ひさし, romaji Hisashi)

1. A male given name

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

Korean

Hanja

寿 • ‎(su) (hangeul 수, revised su, McCune-Reischauer su, Yale swu)

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