Translingual

Stroke order

Alternative forms

• 釒／钅 (jīn) (when used as a left Chinese radical)

Han character

金 (radical 167 金+0, 8 strokes, cangjie input 金 (C), four-corner 8010₉)

1. Kangxi radical #167, ⾦ ‎(“gold”).

Derived characters

• Index:Chinese radical/金
• 𠊄

References

• KangXi: page 1295, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 40152
• Dae Jaweon: page 1795, character 13
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 4167, character 1
• Unihan data for U+91D1

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 金
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Large seal script	Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *krɯm) : semantic 王 ‎(“upside-down axe”) + semantic 呂 ‎(“two blocks of metal”) + phonetic 亼. 亼 is the ancient form for 今 (OC *krɯm).

Etymology

“Copper” [prior to 5th BCE] > “metals in general” > “gold”.

The main senses now are “gold” and “metal”.

Pronunciation

Definitions

金

1. ^†copper (Cu)
2. metal
   • 合金  ―  héjīn  ―  alloy
3. metalware
4. gold (Au)

   金屬 / 金属  ―  jīnshǔ  ―  metal

   • 金的顏色和黃銅很相似。 [MSC, trad.]
     金的颜色和黄铜很相似。 [MSC, simp.]

     Jīn de yánsè hé huángtóng hěn xiāngsì. [Pinyin]

     Gold is similar in color to brass.

5. golden; blond
   • 金髮 / 金发  ―  jīnfà  ―  blond
   • 他被獎勵了一塊金錶。 [MSC, trad.]
     他被奖励了一块金表。 [MSC, simp.]

     Tā bèi jiǎnglì le yīkuài jīn biǎo. [Pinyin]

     He received a golden watch as a prize.

6. (by extension) money; material wealth
   • 現金 / 现金  ―  xiànjīn  ―  cash
   • 資金 / 资金  ―  zījīn  ―  funds
   • 金錢 / 金钱  ―  jīnqián  ―  currency
7. (historical) ancient currency unit
8. (historical) gong or other metalware for signalling commands in the military
9. ^†(figuratively) sun
10. ^†(figuratively) moon
11. ^†(figuratively) respectful; noble; rich
12. ^†(figuratively) impregnable
13. ^†(figuratively) imperial
14. ^†(figuratively, of voice) beautiful; wonderful
15. Short for 金星 (Jīnxīng, “Venus”).
16. Short for 金朝 (Jīncháo, “Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234)”).
17. A surname​.

Compounds

Descendants

• → Lao: ຄຳ ‎(kham, “gold”)
• → Thai: คำ ‎(kam, “gold”)

Japanese

Kanji

(grade 1 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Chemical element
Au	Previous: 白 (はっ)金 (きん) ‎(hakkin) (Pt)
	Next: 水 (すい)銀 (ぎん) ‎(suigin) (Hg)

金 (kane, kugane, kogane, kin): Synthetically produced crystalline gold.

金 (kane, kana, kin): Metal in general, such as metal sheeting.

金 (kane, kana, kin): Hot metal work from a blacksmith.

1. gold
2. metal

Readings

• Goon: こん (kon)
• Kan’on: きん (kin)
• Kun: かな (kana), かね (kane), くがね (kugane) (rare), こがね (kogane) (rare)
• Nanori: か (ka), かん (kan), きむ (kimu), こ (ko), この (kono)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese. Appears to be the older form of this word. In modern Japanese, only found at the start of compounds.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [kã̠na̠]

Prefix

金 ‎(hiragana かな, romaji kana-)

1. metal
2. money
3. firmness, strength
4. completely, entirely

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Appears to be a fusion of kana + Old Japanese emphatic nominal particle い (​i). Compare the development of modern kami from kamu + i at 神, te from ta + i at 手, me from ma + i at 目, kaze from kaza + i at 風.

/kana/ + /i/ → /*kanai/ → /kane/

The four kanji spellings of this term, 金 (“gold”), 銀 ‎(“silver”), 銅 ‎(“copper”), and 鉄 ‎(“iron”), hint at the importance of each of these four metals in ancient Japan.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) かね [kàné] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [kã̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 銀, 銅, 鉄

Noun

金 ‎(hiragana かね, romaji kane)

1. money

   ⇒ お金 (​okane)

2. metal

Usage notes

The 金 spelling is the most common for this term.

Synonyms

• (money): お金 (かね) ‎(okane)
• (metal): 金属 (きんぞく) ‎(kinzoku)

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Compound of 黄 ‎(ku, “yellow”) +‎ 金 ‎(kane, “metal”). The ku is a variation of regular kun'yomi of ki for the 黄 character.^[3]The kane changes to gane as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [kɯᵝɡ̃ã̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 黄金

Noun

金 ‎(hiragana くがね, romaji kugane)

1. (archaic) gold

Etymology 4

/kugane/ → /kogane/

Alteration of kugane^[3], possibly influenced by metaphor from 小金 ‎(kogane, “a small amount of money”), or by the kan'on reading of kō for the 黄 character.

Pronunciation

• Kun'yomi
• (Tokyo) こがね [kògáné] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• (Tokyo) こ​がね [kóꜜgànè] (Atamadaka - [1])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ko̞ɡ̃ã̠ne̞]

Alternative forms

• 黄金

Noun

金 ‎(hiragana こがね, romaji kogane)

1. gold
2. gold or metal currency: coins, such as 大判 ‎(ōban) or 小判 ‎(koban)
3. short for 黄金色 ‎(kogane iro, “gold”, the color)
4. short for 黄金の泥 ‎(kogane no dei, “golden mud”, gold dust suspended in an emulsion and used for painting or other decoration)

   ⇒ 金泥 (​kondei)

See also

• 小金 (こがね) ‎(kogane): a small amount of money
• 金泥 (こんでい) ‎(kondei): “golden mud”, gold dust suspended in an emulsion and used for painting or other decoration

Etymology 5

From Middle Chinese 金 ‎(/kim/). Compare modern Mandarin 金 ‎(jīn).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) き​ん [kíꜜǹ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [kʲĩɴ]

Noun

金 ‎(hiragana きん, romaji kin)

1. gold (Au)
2. money

   金 (きん)一封 (いっぷう)をもらった。

   Kin ippū o moratta.

   I received a gift of money.

3. metal
4. (shogi) short for 金将 ‎(kinsho, “the gold general”, a shogi piece)
5. one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see the "Wu Xing" entry on Wikipedia

Usage notes

Often found in compounds.

Derived terms

Proper noun

金 ‎(hiragana きん, romaji Kin)

1. Jin dynasty (1115–1234)

Etymology 6

From Middle Chinese 金 ‎(/kim/).

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Goon
• (Tokyo) こ​ん [kóꜜǹ] (Atamadaka - [1])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [kõ̞ɴ]

Noun

金 ‎(hiragana こん, romaji kon)

1. one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see the "Wu Xing" entry on Wikipedia

References

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

Korean

Hanja

金 • ‎(gim, geum)
Eumhun:

• Sound (hangeul): 김, 금 (revised: gim, geum, McCune-Reischauer: kim, kŭm, Yale: kim, kum)

• Name (hangeul): 성, 쇠 (revised: seong, soe, McCune-Reischauer: sŏng, soe, Yale: seng, soy)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Noun

金 • ‎(geum) ‎(hangeul 금)

1. gold
2. (as an abbreviation) Friday

Compounds

• 金星 (금성)
• 金曜日 (금요일)

Proper noun

金 • ‎(Gim) ‎(hangeul 김)

1. A surname​.

Vietnamese

Han character

金 (kim, ghim, găm)

1. Ancient word for brass
2. gold (Au)
3. money, currency
4. The color yellow
5. The Kim (Jin) dynasty (1115 - 1234)
6. A surname