Chinese

Noun

時間

1. time (the inevitable passing of events from future to present then past)

   時間催人老。 / 时间催人老。  ―  Shíjiān cuī rén lǎo.  ―  Time ages us.

   時間還來得及。 / 时间还来得及。  ―  Shíjiān hái láidejí.  ―  All in good time.

   抓緊時間！ / 抓紧时间！  ―  Zhuājǐn shíjiān!  ―  Get a move on!

   浪費時間 / 浪费时间  ―  làngfèi shíjiān  ―  to waste time

2. time (a quantity of availability in time)
3. time (a measurement of a quantity of time; a numerical indication of a length of time)

Synonyms

• 時候／时候 (shíhòu)
• (Min Nan) 時陣／时阵 (sî-chūn)
• (Wu) 辰光 (chénguāng)

Derived terms

Descendants

Japanese

Etymology

Probably from Middle Chinese compound 時間 ‎(dzyi kɛn, literally “time interval”).

The reading is a mix of goon ji and kan'on kan, suggesting either that the reading changed after borrowing (from the expected goon pronunciation of jiken or the expected kan'on pronunciation of shikan), or that this term was independently coined in Japanese after the constituent terms 時 (じ) ‎(ji) and 間 (かん) ‎(kan) were borrowed.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) じかん [jìkáń] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [d͡ʑikã̠ɴ]

Noun

時間 ‎(hiragana じかん, romaji jikan)

1. Time.

   時間 (じかん)は何 (なん)ですか。

   Jikan wa nan desu ka.

   What is the time?

2. An hour.

   何 (なん)時間 (じかん)もかかりそうです。

   Nan jikan mo kakari sō desu.

   Apparently it will take many hours.

3. The hours or time when something happens.

   財布 (さいふ)を持 (も)ってきて！買 (か)い物 (もの)の時間 (じかん)ですよ！

   Saifu o motte kite! Kaimono no jikan desu yo!

   Bring your wallet! It's shopping time!

   営業 (えいぎょう)時間 (じかん)は月火水 (げつかすい)、午前９時 (ごぜんくじ)から午後２時 (ごごにじ)までです。

   Eigyō jikan wa getsu ka sui, gozen ku-ji kara gogo ni-ji made desu.

   Business hours are Monday to Wednesday, 9 AM to 2 PM.

Derived terms

Related terms

• 期間 (きかん) ‎(kikan): duration, period

See also

• 時空 (じくう) ‎(jikū): time and space
• 空間 (くうかん) ‎(kūkan): space, a space
• 時空間 (じくうかん) ‎(jikūkan): spacetime
• 日数 (にっすう) ‎(nissū): number of days (duration)

Counter

時間 ‎(hiragana じかん, romaji -jikan)

1. an hour-long period

   一 (いち)時間 (じかん)、二 (に)時間 (じかん)、五 (ご)時間 (じかん)半 (はん)

   ichi-jikan, ni-jikan, go-jikan han

   one hour, two hours, five and a half hours

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9

• 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Noun

時間 • ‎(sigan) ‎(hangeul 시간)

1. Hanja form^? of 시간, “time, an hour or hours”.

Vietnamese

Noun

時間

1. Hán tự form of thời gian, “time”