also: しょう
General term for life or living, often used in compounds or formal contexts.
I think about life and death.
Only with reading せい
Humble first-person pronoun used by men. Archaic and rarely used in modern speech; mostly found in historical or formal contexts.
Only with reading せい
Abbreviation used as a suffix in compounds like 学生 (がくせい). Not used as a standalone word.
See also: 学生 (がくせい)
He is a first-year university student.
I will be going to Edo this time.
The 生 in 学生 is a suffix that indicates a person who studies.
生 means life while 死 means death, forming the classic 生死 pair.
生 means life or birth and is the opposite of 没 (death), as seen in the compound 生没 (birth and death).
生 (life/student) and 性 (nature, sex, gender) share the same reading せい but have completely different meanings and are easy to mix up when heard.
生 read せい means life or birth (as in 一生), while the same kanji read なま means raw, unprocessed, or live, so the reading and context determine which meaning is intended.
life; living; daily life · livelihood; making a living
life; one's life
occurrence; outbreak; emergence · generation; production · development; growth; ontogeny
student (especially university)
production; manufacture
pupil; student; schoolchild
revival; restoration to life; regeneration · rehabilitation; reformation; turnaround · recycling; reclamation; recovery · playback; playing audio or video; views · biological regeneration; regrowth · rebirth; reincarnation · memory recall; retrieval
life; existence · working life; career · life force; lifeblood; soul; essence
Standard kanji spelling for the reading せい. The reading しょう is rare and archaic.
Rare reading; mostly found in older or literary contexts. The common reading is せい.
The kanji 生 carries meanings related to life and birth. The reading せい is the standard Sino-Japanese on'yomi. The reading しょう is a less common on'yomi. The humble pronoun use is a specialized historical application.
living thing; organism; creature; life · biology
senior high school student
hygiene; sanitation; cleanliness · toilet; restroom; bathroom
existence; survival; life
physiology · menstruation; period
welfare; public welfare; social welfare · (former) Ministry of Health and Welfare
creation; generation; formation; derivation
classmate
reincarnation; transmigration of souls
parasitism; parasitic
living body; organism
inhabit; live; dwell
ecology; life and habits of an animal; behavior in its environment · mode of life; way of living; lifestyle as observed
derivation; derivative
birth (of a famous person); nativity
middle and high school students
graduate; alumnus; alumna
rebirth; new birth; being reborn · newly formed; nascent; new
antibiosis
while alive; during one's lifetime
revival; resuscitation · revitalization; rejuvenation; regeneration
parasite