スイセン

ス

イ

セ

ン

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

daffodil; narcissus

usually written using kana alone

Refers to daffodils and narcissus flowers, especially Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis. Commonly written in katakana.

庭にわにスイセンが咲さいている。
Daffodils are blooming in the garden.
春はるになると、あちこちでスイセンが見みられる。
In spring, daffodils can be seen everywhere.

See all 15 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

水すい仙せんが咲さくthe daffodils bloom
庭にわの水すい仙せんが咲さき始はじめた。
The daffodils in the garden have started to bloom.
水すい仙せんを植うえるto plant daffodil bulbs
秋あきに水すい仙せんを植うえると春はるに花はなが咲さく。
If you plant daffodil bulbs in autumn, they will bloom in spring.
水すい仙せんの球きゅう根こんdaffodil bulb
水すい仙せんの球きゅう根こんは毒どくがあるので食たべてはいけない。
Daffodil bulbs are poisonous, so you must not eat them.

Kanji

水water
仙hermit, wizard, cent

Don't confuse with

水すい洗せんN1
水仙 (すいせん) is the flower 'narcissus,' a pure homophone of 水洗 (すいせん, washing with water) that learners can mix up by sound alone.

Counted with

輪りんN1
水仙 is most naturally counted with 輪 for individual blossoms, as in one flower on a stem.
本ほんN5
水仙 can also be counted with 本 when referring to the whole stem, as when buying cut flowers.

Word family

ナツズイセン
hardy amaryllis; resurrection lily; surprise lily; magic lily
きずいせん
jonquil
百合水仙ゆりずいせん
alstroemeria; Peruvian lily; lily of the Incas
ショウキズイセン
Lycoris traubii; a species of spider lily
ラッパずいせん
wild daffodil; Lent lily

Written forms

スイセンUsage19%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common for this plant name; usually written in kana.
水すい仙せんUsage81%
Kanji spelling; less common in everyday writing but still seen, especially in botanical contexts.
すいせん
Hiragana spelling, also used.

Etymology

The kanji 水仙 literally mean 'water immortal/hermit', a Chinese-derived name for the narcissus. The Japanese reading すいせん is the on'yomi of these characters.