西

西 U+897F, 西 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-897F ← 襾 [U+897E] CJK Unified Ideographs 覀 → [U+8980]

⻄ U+2EC4, ⻄ CJK RADICAL WEST TWO ← ⻃ [U+2EC3] CJK Radicals Supplement ⻅ → [U+2EC5]

Stroke order

Stroke order

西 (Kangxi radical 146, 襾+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 一金田 (MCW), four-corner 1060₀, composition ⿱一𠁤)

• 哂, 㛉, 𡶼, 廼, 徆, 恓, 拪, 洒, 𤞏, 迺, 䧈, 𢬣, 晒, 栖, 毢, 𤈇, 牺, 𤥒, 𦚵, 𠒓, 𥙘, 硒, 䄽, 𬭄, 粞, 絤(𬘟), 𦕩, 舾, 𬠂, 𧧍, 跴, 𨠴, 𫘊, 𫙘
• 𪠧, 𨚹, 𤿢, 𪀹, 酉, 𡧳, 茜, 䇴, 𤶈, 𪎢, 氥, 𰀾, 閪

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1128, character 10
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 34763
• Dae Jaweon: page 1595, character 19
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 4, page 2805, character 2
• Unihan data for U+897F

Pictogram (象形) – a bag or basket, borrowed for phonetic value. Compare 東 (OC *toːŋ, “bundle > east”), 束 and 鹵. Traditionally explained as a pictogram of a bird settling into its nest, which by analogy with the setting of the sun means “west”. This etymology has been disputed (Sears), but Sagart (2004) stands by it.

See also the top component of 票, originally two hands holding an object vaguely similar to a bag, basket or nest.

simp. and trad.		西
alternative forms		㢴 卤

The word is traditionally reconstructed to have a /*s/-initial in Old Chinese, e.g. /*sɯːl/ in Zhengzhang (2003). However, recent scholarship has suggested that the Old Chinese initial should instead be reconstructed as /*s-nˤ/, one of the reasons being 西 appears to be the phonetic in 迺 (nǎi), the archaic graphic variant of 乃 (OC *nɯːʔ). The new reconstruction, /*s-nˤər/ in Baxter and Sagart (2014), also accounts for how 西 can be the phonetic in 哂 (shěn, “to smile”). For more information, see Sagart (2004), Baxter and Sagart (2014) and Nohara (2018).

In light of the new construction with the initial consonant cluster /*s-nˤ/, the possibilities of the etymology of 西, aside from being cognate with 棲／栖 (qī, “to roost; to rest”) (B-S OC /*s-nˤər/), include:

• Related to Tibetan ནེར་བ (ner ba, “to sink; to fall gradually”) (Unger, 1990).
• Related to Chepang नेलःसा (nelʔ‑, “to go down; to sink”), which may be the same etymon as the Written Tibetan word above (Schuessler, 2007).
• Related to the root 尼 (nǐ, “to stop”) (OC /*nˤərʔ/ for intransitive form, /*nˤərʔ-s/ for transitive form in Baxter and Sagart (2014)).
• Related to Tibetan མནལ (mnal, “sleep”) and Burmese နား (na:, “to rest; to stop for a while”) (Hill, 2019).
• An Austroasiatic nominal n-infix derivative from the root "go down", as in Old Mon cnis (“ghat”) < Old Mon cis (“to go down”) , with Proto-Austroasiatic *tsn- > Proto-Sinitic *sn-. If true, then this etymon literally means "the place where one goes down to" > Mon "ghat" > OC "nest, west" and its base form is 濟 (OC *ʔsliːls) via Austroasiatic (Schuessler, 2007).

西

1. west; western; occidental
2. (Cantonese, minced oath) euphemistic form of 閪 / 𲈹 (hai¹)

   西人 [Cantonese]  ―  sai¹ jan⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  cunt; jerk

   西客 [Cantonese]  ―  sai¹ haak³ [Jyutping]  ―  bad customer

   西口西面 [Cantonese]  ―  sai¹ hau² sai¹ min⁶ [Jyutping]  ―  bitch-face

3. (Buddhism) western paradise
4. Used in transcription.

   加西亞／加西亚  ―  Jiāxīyà  ―  García

   印度尼西亞／印度尼西亚  ―  Yìndùníxīyà  ―  Indonesia

   密西西比  ―  Mìxīxībǐ  ―  Mississippi

   切爾西／切尔西  ―  Qiè'ěrxī  ―  Chelsea

compass points: 方位 (fāngwèi):  ^[edit]

西北 (xīběi)	北	東北 / 东北 (dōngběi)
西 (xī)		東 / 东 (dōng)
西南 (xīnán)	南	東南 / 东南 (dōngnán)

Others:

• Japanese: 西(シャー) (shā, “west wind (mahjong tile)”)

simp. and trad.		西

西

1. short for 西班牙 (Xībānyá, “Spain”)

   西語／西语  ―  xīyǔ  ―  Spanish language

   西政府  ―  xī zhèngfǔ  ―  Spanish government

   赴西  ―  fù xī  ―  (formal) to go to Spain

simp. and trad.		西
alternative forms		篩／筛

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “From English side?”)

西 (Cantonese)

1. spin (noun)

   腳趾尾拉西／脚趾尾拉西 [Cantonese]  ―  goek³ zi² mei^5-1 laai¹ sai¹ [Jyutping]  ―  to do a sidespin with one's little toe

2. to spin; to cause to spin
3. carrying spin
4. to deviate from a path due to some force
   • 2019 December 18, “九巴車禍：乘客身體被劏開內臟溢出　車廂變煉獄”, in 東網‎^[2]:

     坐於肇事巴士下層第2排的何先生稱，當時下層乘客全部坐在座椅上，突然聽到「嘭」一聲巨響，感覺到車身「擺一擺」及「西埋一邊」。 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
     坐于肇事巴士下层第2排的何先生称，当时下层乘客全部坐在座椅上，突然听到「嘭」一声巨响，感觉到车身「摆一摆」及「西埋一边」。 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]

     co⁵ jyu¹ siu⁶ si⁶ baa¹ si^6-2 haa⁶ cang⁴ dai⁶ ji⁶ paai⁴ dik¹ ho⁴ sin¹ saang¹ cing¹, dong¹ si⁴ haa⁶ cang⁴ sing⁴ haak³ cyun⁴ bou⁶ co⁵ zoi⁶ zo⁶ ji² soeng⁶, dat⁶ jin⁴ teng¹ dou^3-2 “baang⁴” jat¹ sing¹ geoi⁶ hoeng², gam² gok³ dou³ ce¹ san¹ “baai² jat¹ baai²” kap⁶ “sai¹ maai⁴ jat¹ bin¹”. [Jyutping]

     Mr Ho, who sat at the second row of the lower deck of the bus, said that all lower deck passengers were sitting on their seats. He suddenly heard a loud banging noise and felt that the vehicle body swung and moved towards its side.

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

   架車轉彎嗰陣好西。 [Cantonese, trad.]
   架车转弯嗰阵好西。 [Cantonese, simp.]

   gaa³ ce¹ zyun³ waan¹ go² zan^6-2 hou² sai¹. [Jyutping]

   There was strong centrifugal force when the vehicle turned.

6. to hit (clarification of this definition is needed)

   一嘢西落佢度 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

   jat¹ je⁵ sai¹ lok⁶ keoi⁵ dou⁶ [Jyutping]

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

1. west
2. Europe, European
3. kanji used to transliterate foreign languages
4. short for 西班牙 (Supein): Spain, Spanish
5. autumn

• Go-on: さい (sai, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: せい (sei, Jōyō)
• Tō-on: すい (sui)、す (su)
• Kun: にし (nishi, 西, Jōyō)
• Nanori: あき (aki)、いり (iri)、かわち (kawachi)^{←かはち (kafati, historical)}、ひし (hishi)、むら (mura)

Kanji in this term
西
にし Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Originally a compound of 去に (ini, “going away”, the 連(れん)用(よう)形(けい) (ren'yōkei, “stem or continuative form”) of the verb 去(い)ぬ (inu, “to go away”)) +‎ し (shi, “wind; (by extension) direction”, as seen in other ancient-derived words as 嵐 (arashi, “storm”, literally “wild + wind”), 旋風 (tsumuji, “whirlwind”), 東 (higashi, “east”, from older pi muka si, literally “sun + facing + wind/direction”)).^[1]

First cited in the Kojiki of 712, with the phonetic spelling 爾斯 (nisi).^[1]

• (Tokyo) にし [nìshí] (Heiban – [0])^[2][3][4]
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟iɕi]

西(にし) • (nishi) 

1. [from 770] west (one of the four cardinal directions)

   Antonym: 東 (higashi)

2. the West
3. [from 712] the west wind, wind blowing from the west

   Antonym: 東 (higashi)

4. (theater) in kabuki:
   1. [from 1688] the left side of the stage in the Edo-style
   2. [from 1688] the right side of the stage in Kyoto and Osaka styles
5. [date uncertain] (sumo) lower-ranked wrestlers listed on the left side of a banzuke

   Antonym: 東 (higashi)

6. [from 1885] the West; (later, more specifically) the capitalist states of the West (originally western Europe, as opposed to Eastern Bloc countries)

   Synonym: 西側 (nishigawa)

   Antonym: 東 (higashi)

compass points: 方角 (hōgaku):  ^[edit]

北西 (hokusei) 西北 (seihoku)	北 (kita)	北東 (hokutō) 東北 (tōhoku)
西 (nishi)		東 (higashi)
西南 (seinan) 南西 (nansei)	南 (minami)	東南 (tōnan) 南東 (nantō)

• 西(にし)向(む)く侍(さむらい) → 二四(にし)六九(むく)士(さむらい) (nishi muku samurai, “westward-facing samurai → mnemonic for months with less than 31 days, with 士 standing for 十一”)

西(にし) • (Nishi) 

1. (Buddhism) synonym of 西方浄土 (Saihō Jōdo): the western paradise of Amitabha Buddha
2. (Buddhism) short for 西本願寺 (Nishi Hongan-ji): a Buddhist temple in Kyoto

   Synonym: お西 (o-Nishi)

3. (historical) a red-light district in Edo-period Shinjuku (as it was located west of Edo Castle)
4. a place name, especially the name of various wards in major cities throughout Japan
5. a surname

Kanji in this term
西
しゃー Grade: 2
irregular

Possibly a corruption of Mandarin 西 (xī, “west”).

西(シャー) • (shā) 

1. (mahjong) west wind (mahjong tile)

   Hypernym: 風牌 (kazehai, fanpai)

2. (mahjong) a 役 (yaku, “winning hand”) with a triplet or quad of west wind tiles; depending on wind round and player's seat wind, it is worth either 1 or 2 翻 (han, “doubles”)

   Hypernym: 役牌 (yakuhai, yaku-pai)

• 風(かぜ)牌(ハイ) (kazehai, “wind tiles”): 東(トン) (ton, “east wind”), 南(ナン) (nan, “south wind”), 西(シャー) (shā, “west wind”), 北(ペー) (pē, “north wind”)

• “西”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[3] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2025

From Middle Chinese 西 (MC sej).

Historical Readings
Dongguk Jeongun Reading
Dongguk Jeongun, 1448	솅 (Yale: syèy)
Middle Korean
Text	Eumhun
	Gloss (hun)	Reading
Hunmong Jahoe, 1527[4]	셧녁 (Yale: syè-s-nyèk)	셔 (Yale: syè)

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰʌ̹]
• Phonetic hangul: [서]

西 (eumhun 서녘 서 (seonyeok seo))

1. hanja form^? of 서 (“west; western”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [5]

(Second grade kyōiku kanji)

• Kun: いり (iri, 西)

西(いり) (iri) 

1. the West

西: Hán Việt readings: tây, tê
西: Nôm readings: tây

1. chữ Hán form of tây
   1. west
   2. West (the Western world)

compass points:  ^[edit]

tây bắc (西北)	bắc (北)	đông bắc (東北)
tây (西)		đông (東)
tây nam (西南)	nam (南)	đông nam (東南)

• Sơn Tây (山西)
• Tây Sơn (西山)
• phía tây (費西)

• Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
• Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999
• Vũ Văn Kính: Đại Tự Điển Chữ Nôm, NXB Văn Nghệ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999