子し々し孫そん々そん

し

そ

ん

そ

ん

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

noun

descendants; posterity; future generations

yojijukugo (four-character idiom)

A yojijukugo (four-character compound) referring to one's descendants in perpetuity, often used in formal or literary contexts to emphasize the continuation of a family line or legacy.

この土と地ちは子々しし孫々そんそんに受うけ継つがれてきた。
This land has been passed down from generation to generation.
子々しし孫々そんそんに至いたるまで、この教おしえを守まもりなさい。
Keep this teaching for all your descendants to come.

See all 3 example sentences ›

Kanji

子child, sign of the rat, 11PM-1AM
孫grandchild, descendants

Related words

子し孫そん
子孫 is the common word for 'descendants' or 'offspring', while 子々孫々 is a more emphatic, formal yojijukugo emphasizing the unbroken line of descendants.
末まつ代だい
末代 means 'future generations' or 'posterity' but often carries a nuance of 'forever' or 'eternity', sometimes used in curses or blessings.

Written forms

子々孫々
- ししそんそん
  Standard kanji spelling using iteration marks. The most common written form.
- ししそんぞん
子子孫孫
- ししそんそん
  Full kanji spelling without iteration marks. Less common but still encountered.
- ししそんぞん
ししそんぞん

Etymology

A yojijukugo composed of reduplicated characters: 子 (child) and 孫 (grandchild), literally 'children and grandchildren', extended to mean all descendants. The exact origin is uncertain, but it follows a common pattern of emphatic reduplication in classical Chinese.