腥

腥 U+8165, 腥 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-8165 ← 腤 [U+8164] CJK Unified Ideographs 腦 → [U+8166]

Translingual

Han character

腥 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+9, 13 strokes, cangjie input 月日竹一 (BAHM), four-corner 7621₄, composition ⿰⺼星)

1. raw meat, including the odor thereof
2. rank, strong-smelling

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 988, character 17
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29678
• Dae Jaweon: page 1440, character 30
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 3, page 2095, character 13
• Unihan data for U+8165

Chinese

trad.		腥
simp. #		腥

Glyph origin

Characters in the same phonetic series (生) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
猜	*sʰlɯː
輤	*sʰleːns
綪	*sʰleːns, *ʔsreːŋ
倩	*sʰleːns, *sʰleŋs
棈	*sʰleːns
蒨	*sʰeːns
篟	*sʰeːns
生	*sʰleːŋ, *sreŋs
牲	*sreŋ
笙	*sreŋ
甥	*sreŋ
鉎	*sreŋ, *sleːŋ
珄	*sreŋ
鼪	*sreŋ, *sreŋs
猩	*sreŋ, *seːŋ
狌	*sreŋ
眚	*sreŋʔ
貹	*sreŋs
崝	*zreːŋ
精	*ʔsleŋ, *ʔsleŋs
菁	*ʔsleŋ
鶄	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
蜻	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleːŋ
鼱	*ʔsleŋ
婧	*ʔsleŋ, *zleŋs, *zleŋʔ
睛	*ʔsleŋ, *sʰleŋʔ
箐	*ʔsleŋ
聙	*ʔsleŋ
旌	*ʔsleŋ
清	*sʰleŋ
圊	*sʰleŋ
請	*sʰleŋʔ, *zleŋs, *zleŋ
凊	*sʰleŋs
䝼	*zleŋs, *zleŋ
靚	*zleŋs
情	*zleŋ
晴	*zleŋ
夝	*zleŋ
靜	*zleŋʔ
靖	*zleŋʔ
睲	*seŋʔ, *seːŋs
惺	*seŋʔ, *seːŋ
性	*sleŋs
姓	*sleŋs
靗	*l̥ʰeŋs
鯖	*ʔljeŋ, *sʰleːŋ
青	*sʰleːŋ
靘	*sʰleːŋ, *sʰleːŋs
掅	*sʰleːŋs
胜	*sleːŋ
曐	*sleːŋ
星	*sleːŋ
鮏	*sleːŋ
腥	*seːŋ, *seːŋs
鯹	*seːŋ
醒	*seːŋ, *seːŋʔ, *seːŋs
篂	*seːŋ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *seːŋ, *seːŋs): semantic 肉 (“meat; flesh”) + phonetic 星 (OC *sleːŋ)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xīng (xing¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seng¹ / sing¹

• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): siâng

  (Meixian, Guangdong): xiang¹

• Eastern Min (BUC): sĭng
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): seng / chhiⁿ / chheⁿ

  (Teochew, Peng'im): cên¹ / sêng¹

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹shin

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīng
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sing
    • Wade–Giles: hsing¹
    • Yale: syīng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shing
    • Palladius: син (sin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: seng¹ / sing¹
    • Yale: sēng / sīng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: seng¹ / sing¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: séng¹ / xing¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛːŋ⁵⁵/, /sɪŋ⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: siâng
    • Hakka Romanization System: xiang^ˊ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: xiang¹
    • Sinological IPA: /si̯aŋ²⁴/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: xiang¹
    • Sinological IPA: /ɕiaŋ⁴⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: sĭng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng
    • Tâi-lô: sing
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sefng
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /siɪŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /siɪŋ³³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Taipei, Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chhiⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tshinn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: chvy
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sʰĩ³³/
    • IPA (Taipei, Xiamen): /t͡sʰĩ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Kaohsiung, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chheⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tshenn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zhvef
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡sʰɛ̃⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sʰẽ⁴⁴/

Note:

• seng - literary;
• chhiⁿ/chheⁿ - vernacular.

• • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: cên¹ / sêng¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsheⁿ / seng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰẽ³³/, /seŋ³³/
Note:
• cên1 - vernacular;
• sêng1 - literary.
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹shin
    • MiniDict: shin^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹xin
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɕin⁵³/

---

• Middle Chinese: seng, sengH

Rime
Character	腥	腥
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	青 (125)	青 (125)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	IV	IV
Fanqie	桑經切	蘇佞切
Baxter	seng	sengH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/seŋ/	/seŋH/
Pan Wuyun	/seŋ/	/seŋH/
Shao Rongfen	/sɛŋ/	/sɛŋH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sɛjŋ/	/sɛjŋH/
Li Rong	/seŋ/	/seŋH/
Wang Li	/sieŋ/	/sieŋH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/sieŋ/	/sieŋH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xīng	xìng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sing1	sing3

• Old Chinese

  (Zhengzhang): /*seːŋ/, /*seːŋs/

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	腥	腥
Reading #	1/2	2/2
No.	11375	11381
Phonetic component	生	生
Rime group	耕	耕
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	星	腥
Old Chinese	/*seːŋ/	/*seːŋs/

Definitions

腥

1. fishy smell
2. having a fishy smell
3. meat; fish
4. (archaic) raw meat; uncooked meat

Synonyms

• (raw meat): 生肉 (shēngròu)

Compounds

• 偷腥 (tōuxīng)
• 土腥氣 / 土腥气 (tǔxīngqì)
• 汗腥氣 / 汗腥气
• 羶腥
• 腥味 (xīngwèi)
• 腥氣 / 腥气 (xīngqì)
• 腥浪
• 腥羶 (xīngshān)
• 腥聞 / 腥闻
• 腥臊 (xīngsāo)
• 腥臊味
• 腥臭 (xīngchòu)
• 腥衲襖 / 腥衲袄
• 腥賭 / 腥赌
• 腥風 / 腥风
• 腥風血雨 / 腥风血雨 (xīngfēngxuèyǔ)
• 葷腥 / 荤腥 (hūnxīng)
• 血腥 (xuèxīng)
• 血雨腥風 / 血雨腥风 (xuèyǔxīngfēng)
• 飯腥 / 饭腥
• 魚腥 / 鱼腥 (yúxīng)
• 魚腥草 / 鱼腥草 (yúxīngcǎo)

References

• “腥”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.