子し々し孫そん々そん

し

そ

ん

そ

ん

Freq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

1

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.

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.