臣
retainer, subject
Readings
On'yomi
- シン
- ジン
Kun'yomi
—
Nanori
- おみ
- たか
- と
- とみ
- み
Meaning
臣 centers on a person in a subordinate role: a retainer who serves a lord or a subject under a ruler.
Most common words using 臣
20 of 117- 大臣だいじんN3
cabinet minister
- 臣おみ
retainer; attendant
- 臣やつこ
slave
- 家臣かしん
vassal; retainer
- 臣民しんみん
subject; national; citizen
- 法務大臣ほうむだいじん
Minister of Justice
- 臣下しんか
retainer; subject; vassal; servant
- 朝臣あそん
Ason (second highest of the eight hereditary titles)
- 忠臣蔵ちゅうしんぐら
(story of the) Forty-seven Rōnin; the Treasury of Loyal Retainers; Chūshingura
- 国務大臣こくむだいじん
minister of state; cabinet minister (in Japan)
- 忠臣ちゅうしん
loyal retainer; loyal subject
- 重臣じゅうしん
chief vassal; senior statesman
- 老臣ろうしん
old or key retainer
- 左大臣さだいじん
Minister of the Left (official in Nara and Heian periods)
- 幕臣ばくしん
shogunate retainer; shogunate vassal
- 朝臣ちょうしん
courtier
- 右大臣うだいじん
Minister of the Right (official in Nara and Heian periods)
- 総理大臣そうりだいじんN2
prime minister (as the head of a cabinet government); premier
- 内大臣ないだいじん
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal (1885-1945)
- 内閣総理大臣ないかくそうりだいじんN2
prime minister (as the head of a cabinet government); premier
Study
Etymology
臣 is a pictograph of a bowed eye, representing a servant or retainer looking down in submission. The modern form retains the stylized eye shape.
Meaning mnemonic
The shape looks like a wide eye with a bowed brow, as if a retainer is looking down respectfully before their lord.
Reading mnemonic
For シン, imagine a loyal retainer named Shin who always bows deeply: Shin -> シン, and the bowed eye shape matches the retainer's posture.