賽さい銭せん

さ

い

せ

ん

Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

monetary offering; offertory

Money offered at a Shinto shrine or Buddhist temple, typically thrown into a 賽銭箱 (offertory box) before praying.

神じん社じゃで賽さい銭せんを入いれてお参まいりした。
I put a monetary offering in the offertory box and prayed at the shrine.
賽さい銭せんはいくらが適てき当とうですか。
How much is an appropriate monetary offering?

See all 12 example sentences ›

Kanji

賽dice, temple visit
銭coin, .01 yen, money

Related words

お賽さい銭せん
Polite form with honorific prefix お; commonly used in speech.
賽さい銭せん箱ばこ
The offertory box where 賽銭 is thrown.

Word family

賽さい銭せん箱ばこ
offertory box
賽さい銭せん泥どろ棒ぼう
offerings thief; thief who steals from a shrine or temple offering box

Written forms

賽さい銭せんUsage84%
Standard kanji spelling for monetary offerings at shrines and temples.
さい銭せんUsage12%
Mixed kana-kanji spelling; sometimes used for readability.
さいせんUsage4%
Kana spelling is common in everyday writing, especially when the kanji 賽 is considered difficult.

Etymology

Compound of 賽 “to repay or thank a deity for fulfilled prayers” and 銭 “money,” originally denoting money presented in fulfillment of a vow or in gratitude to a deity.