僧 (sēng): (bound form) Buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽)
僧 (sēng) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 亻 (semantic) and 曾 (phonetic). It ranks #1985 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 僧 person. Its radical form 亻 (person) appears in many related characters such as 人 (rén, person), 什 (shén, what), 今 (jīn, now).
Definitions
- (bound form) Buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽)
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 僧 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 僧侣noun | sēng lǚ | monk |
| 僧人noun | sēng rén | monk |
| 苦行僧noun | kǔ xíng sēng | ascetic monk |
| 高僧noun | gāo sēng | a senior monk |
| 僧多粥少phrase | sēng duō zhōu shǎo | lit. many monks and not much gruel (idiom) |
| 不看僧面看佛面 | bù kàn sēng miàn kàn fó miàn | lit. not for the monk's sake but for the Buddha's sake (idiom) |
| 僧加罗语 | sēng jiā luó yǔ | Sinhalese (language) |
| 佛法僧目 | fó fǎ sēng mù | Coraciiformes, class of birds including kingfishers and hornbills |
| 蓝胸佛法僧 | lán xiōng fó fǎ sēng | (bird species of China) European roller (Coracias garrulus) |
| 僧帽水母noun | sēng mào shuǐ mǔ | (zoology) Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) |
| 扫地僧 | sǎo dì sēng | Sweeper Monk, nameless monk who maintains the library of Shaolin (from Jin Yong's novel "Demigods and Semidevils" 天龍八... |
| 西棕胸佛法僧 | xī zōng xiōng fó fǎ sēng | (bird species) Indian roller (Coracias benghalensis) |
| 僧院noun | sēng yuàn | abbey |
| 粥少僧多 | zhōu shǎo sēng duō | see 僧多粥少 |
| 棕胸佛法僧 | zōng xiōng fó fǎ sēng | (bird species of China) Indochinese roller (Coracias affinis) |
僧 appears in 26 compound words: 46 as the first character, 38 as the last, and 15 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 僧 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
他僧品很好，在村里很受尊敬。
tā sēng pǐn hěn hǎo , zài cūn lǐ hěn shòu zūn jìng .
He is a highly respected monk in the village.
各团队纷纷“赛马”推出竞争产品，僧多肉少。
gè tuán duì fēn fēn sài mǎ tuī chū jìng zhēng chǎn pǐn , sēng duō ròu shǎo .
Teams are racing to launch competing products, but there's too much competition for too few opportunities.
大榄涌行山失踪|大雨中遇涉事夫妇 僧人:当日行雷担遮都有危险
dà 榄 chōng háng shān shī zōng dà yǔ zhōng yù shè shì fū fù sēng rén : dāng rì háng léi dān zhē dōu yǒu wēi xiǎn
Missing Hiker in Tai Lam Chung | Monk Encounters Couple Involved in Incident During Heavy Rain: "Even Carrying a Rain Shelter Was Dangerous That Day"
僧侣*面纱 深陷其中精酿啤酒
sēng lǚ miàn shā shēn xiàn qí zhōng jīng niàng pí jiǔ
Monk*Veil: Deeply Immersed in Craft Beer
高雄中门海滩 惊见致命僧帽水母首次现踪
gāo xióng zhōng mén hǎi tān jīng jiàn zhì mìng sēng mào shuǐ mǔ shǒu cì xiàn zōng
Deadly Box Jellyfish Spotted for the First Time at Kaohsiung’s Zhongmen Beach
佛门不清净!2泰僧对7沙弥伸魔爪 警破门见满地保险套、润滑...
fó mén bù qīng jìng ! 2 tài sēng duì 7 shā mí shēn mó zhǎo jǐng pò mén jiàn mǎn dì bǎo xiǎn tào , rùn huá . . .
The Buddhist community is not pure! Two Thai monks molested seven novices; police broke down the door to find the floor littered with condoms and lubricant...
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 亻 (person) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 僧 (sēng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 僧 and 增?
How many strokes does 僧 have?
What is the radical of 僧?
What are the components of 僧?
What are common words containing 僧?
Is 僧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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