賤
despise, low-life, poverty
Readings
On'yomi
- セン
- ゼン
Kun'yomi
- いや.しい
- いや.しむ
- しず
- やす.い
Meaning
賤 centers on low social or moral worth: despising someone as low-life, or the poverty that marks a low station. The meanings all point to being looked down on.
Most common words using 賤
- 賤しず
lowly person; lowliness
- 貴賤きせん
high and low (social standing)
- 五色の賤ごしきのせん
five lowly castes of the ritsuryō system
- 五賤ごせん
five lowly castes of the ritsuryō system
- 微賤びせん
low rank; humble station; obscurity
- 貧富貴賤ひんぷきせん
rich and poor, high and low; people of all ranks
- 貴賤上下きせんしょうか
high and low; (people of) all ranks and classes
- 貴賤結婚きせんけっこん
morganatic marriage (marriage of a noble and a commoner that disallows the passage of title, possessions, etc.)
- 貴賤貧富きせんひんぷ
high and low, and rich and poor
- 賤の女しずのめ
woman of lowly birth
- 賤吏せんり
low-ranking official
- 賤女せんじょ
lowly woman
- 賤民せんみん
lowly people (esp. as a caste); humble people
- 賤称せんしょう
depreciatory name
- 賤鳥しずとり
lesser cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus)
Study
Etymology
賤 combines 貝 (shell, money) with 戔, which likely contributes the sound and carries a sense of smallness or injury. The idea is that poverty or low status is associated with meager wealth.
Meaning mnemonic
Shells 貝 were old currency, and the right side 戔 suggests something small or damaged. Picture a person with only a few broken shells—so poor and lowly that others despise them.
Reading mnemonic
For セン, imagine a scene where a low-life beggar holds out a single cent, and people despise him for it: cent -> セン.