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辛: bitter

By February 24, 2015January 28th, 2021Chinese Word, Japanese Word, Language-Learning

 

辛 xīn

noun | radical 160
: bitter; (of taste) hot or pungent
: hard; laborious; suffering
: eighth in order; eighth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干; letter “H” or roman “VIII” in list “A, B, C”, or “I, II, III” etc; octa

Kun Reading

辛 | かのと kanoto

noun
: 8th in rank; eighth sign of the Chinese calendar

辛い | からい karai

adjective
: spicy; hot
: salty;
: tough (on someone); adverse; harsh

辛い | つらい tsurai

adjective
: painful; bitter; heart-breaking

辛み | からみ karami

noun
: salty (hot, sharp) taste

辛め | からめ karame

adjective
: hottish; salty; somewhat hot; kind of salty; on the dry side
: strict; harsh

On Reading

辛 | しん shin

noun
: 8th in rank; eighth sign of the Chinese calendar

 Usage:

辛苦 xin1ku3: hard; exhausting; with much toil; thanks for your trouble
[しんく shinku: hardship; toil; trouble]
辛勤 xin1qin2: hardworking; industrious
辛辣 xin1 la4: spicy hot (taste); fig. biting (criticism)
[しんらつ shinratsu: bitter; sharp; acrimonious]
辛酸 xin1suan1: pungent (taste); bitter; fig. sad; miserable
[しんさん shinsan: hardships; privation]
艱[艰]辛 jian1xin: hardships; arduous; difficult



Japanese common word | expression | idiom
激辛 | げきから gekikara: extremely hot (spicy); very strict evaluation

大辛 | おおがら oogara OR おおから ookara: very spicy
中辛 | ちゅうがら chuugara OR ちゅうから chuukara: medium-spicy
小辛 | こがら kogara: slightly spicy

甘辛 | あまから amakara: sweetness and saltiness; salted and sweetened taste
辛味噌 | からみそ karamiso: high-salt miso; salty miso

命辛々 | いのちがらがら inochi garagara OR いのちからがら inochi karagara
: for dear life; barely escaping alive

辛酸甘苦 | しんさんかんく shinsan kanku
: hardships and joys; tasting the sweets and bitters of life; (having seen much of life) being well-versed in the ways of the world. Trials and tribulations



Chinese expression | idiom
辛辛苦苦 xin1 xin1 ku3 ku3
: painstakingly; with great trouble

千辛萬苦 [千辛万苦] qian1 xin1 wan4 ku3
: to suffer untold hardships; trials and tribulations; with difficulty; after some effort

 Etymology:


象形 Pictographic.
Picture of tool for tattooing slaves and prisoners.



“Bitter” radical #160



 Look-alike:
xing4: to be lucky
[kun: さち sachi; さいわい saiwai; しあわせ shiawase. on: こう kou]

親[亲] qin1 | qing1: relatives; parents; intimate | parents-in-law of one’s offspring
[kun: おや oya; 親しい shitashii.
on: しん shin]



 Examples:
我不習慣辛辣的食物。
wo3 bu4 xi2guan4 xin1la4 de shi2wu4.
I’m not used to spicy food.

Resources: Chinese Dictionary | Japanese Dictionary