Chinese

Japanese

Etymology 1

雄黄 (yūō, oō): a sample of the mineral orpiment.

/juːwau/ → /juːwɔː/ → /juːoː/

From Middle Chinese compound 雄黃 ‎(hjuwng hwang, literally “male + yellow”), indicating the mineral realgar, in contrast to 雌黄 ‎(tsiɛ hwang, literally “female + yellow”), indicating the mineral orpiment.

Due to similarities between the two minerals, when the term was borrowed into Japanese, the meaning changed from realgar to orpiment.

Pronunciation

• On'yomi
• (Tokyo) ゆうおう [yùúóó] (Heiban - [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [jɯᵝːo̞ː]

Noun

雄黄 ‎(hiragana ゆうおう, romaji yūō, historical hiragana ゆうわう)

1. orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Usage notes

This is the most common reading for this kanji compound.

Synonyms

• 石黄 (せきおう) ‎(sekiō)
• 雌黄 (しおう) ‎(shiō) (rare)

Etymology 2

/wowau/ → /owɔː/ → /ooː/

Compound of 雄 ‎(o, “male”, from Old Japanese) +‎ 黄 ‎(ō, “yellow”, from Middle Chinese).

Pronunciation

• Yutōyomi
• (Tokyo) おおう [òóó] (Heiban - [0])
• IPA^(key): [o̞o̞ː]

Noun

雄黄 ‎(hiragana おおう, romaji oō, historical hiragana をわう)

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) orpiment, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Synonyms

• 石黄 (せきおう) ‎(sekiō)
• 雌黄 (しおう) ‎(shiō) (rare)

Etymology 3

雄黄 (kini): a sample of the mineral realgar.

From Old Japanese. Compound of 黄 ‎(ki, “yellow”) +‎ 丹 ‎(ni, “earth, reddish earth”). The kanji are ateji, borrowed from the Chinese term.

Cognate and homophone of 雌黄 ‎(kini, “orpiment”). Only differentiated by spelling.

Pronunciation

• (Irregular reading)
• IPA^(key): [kʲĩni]

Noun

雄黄 ‎(hiragana きに, romaji kini)

1. (rare, possibly obsolete) realgar, an arsenic sulfide mineral

Synonyms

• 鶏冠石 (けいかんせき) ‎(keikanseki) (more common)

Related terms

References

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