also: いちい
the street; the town; the world of common people
Refers to the everyday world of ordinary people, as opposed to official or elite circles. Often used in literary or formal contexts.
He is respected as a scholar from the common people.
The voices of ordinary people should be reflected in politics.
Standard kanji form; the reading しせい is the normal pronunciation.
Irregular kana reading; rarely used and likely to be misread as しせい.
From Chinese 市井 (shìjǐng), literally 'market well', referring to the marketplace and well where people gathered, thus coming to mean the common people's world.