Chinese

The “giraffe” sense of 麒麟 is obsolete in modern Chinese, but is preserved in the Sinoxenic loanwords in Japanese (麒 (き)麟 (りん) ‎(kirin)) and Korean (기린). In modern Vietnamese (kì lân), this word refers to the beast qilin, as well as the western mythological beast unicorn.

Noun

麒麟

1. (Chinese mythology) qilin (propitious mythological beast)   (Classifier: 隻／只)
   • 豈惟民哉？麒麟之於走獸，鳳凰之於飛鳥，太山之於丘垤，河海之於行潦，類也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     岂惟民哉？麒麟之于走兽，凤凰之于飞鸟，太山之于丘垤，河海之于行潦，类也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
     From: Mengzi (Mencius), circa 4th century BCE

     Qǐ wéi mín zāi? Qílín zhī yú zǒushòu, fènghuáng zhī yú fēiniǎo, Tàishān zhī yú qiūdié, hé hǎi zhī yú xíngliáo, lèi yě. [Pinyin]

     Is it only among men that it is so? There is the Qilin among quadrupeds, the Fenghuang (phoenix) among birds, the Tai mountain among mounds and ant-hills, and rivers and seas among rain-pools. Though different in degree, they are the same in kind.

2. (figuratively, literary) outstanding person; man of ability
3. (obsolete) giraffe (ruminant of the genus Giraffa)

Derived terms

Descendants

Japanese

麒麟 (kirin): the statue of a qilin, also known as the Chinese unicorn.

麒麟 (kirin): a giraffe.

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 麒麟 ‎(*ghiə lin)

Pronunciation

• On'yomi: Kan'on
• (Tokyo) きりん [kìríń] (Heiban - [0])^[1][2]
• IPA^(key): [kʲiɾĩɴ]

Alternative forms

• (in general): 騏驎
• (giraffe, beer): キリン (more common)

Noun

麒麟 ‎(hiragana きりん, katakana キリン, romaji kirin)

1. (Chinese mythology) a qilin
   • 2010 May 23, Gosho Aoyama, “青せい龍りゅう [Azure Dragon]”, in 名探偵コナン [Legendary Detective Conan], volume 68 (fiction, in Japanese), Tokyo: Shogakukan, ISBN 978-4-09-122290-9:

     それは動どう物ぶつのキリン！問もん題だいの麒き麟りんは…全ぜん身しんが黄き色いろい鱗うろこで覆おおわれていて、姿すがたは鹿しか、牛うしの尾おと馬うまの蹄ひづめを持もち、龍りゅうに似にた頭あたまから１本ぽん角つのが生はえてる…中ちゅう国ごくの伝でん説せつ上じょうの神しん獣じゅうだよ！

     Sore wa dōbutsu no kirin! Mondai no kirin wa… Zenshin ga kiiroi uroko de ōwareteite, sugata wa shika, ushi no o to uma no hizume o mochi, ryū ni nita atama kara ippon tsuno ga haeteru… Chūgoku no densetsu jō no shinjū da yo!

     That's giraffekirin the animal! The qilinkirin we're talking about… has a deer-like body covered in golden scales, with a cow's tail and a horse's hooves, and with a single horn growing from its dragon-ish head… It's a mythical beast from Chinese legends!

2. (shogi) the kirin, a piece in chūshōgi and larger shogi variants
3. a giraffe (mammal)

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana in biological contexts, as キリン.

Synonyms

• (giraffe): ジラフ ‎(jirafu)

Derived terms

Proper noun

麒麟 ‎(hiragana きりん, katakana キリン, romaji Kirin)

1. a brand of beer

References

1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9
2. ↑ 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

Korean

Noun

麒麟 • ‎(girin, McCune-Reischauer: kirin, Yale: kilin) ‎(hangeul 기린)

1. Hanja form^? of 기린, “giraffe; qilin”.

Vietnamese

Han character

麒麟 (kì lân)

1. Hán tự form of kì lân, “qilin”