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).

Native pronunciation

HSK 7-9 Radical: 亻 person14 strokesFrequency #1985亻 semantic 曾 phonetic

Definitions

(bound form) Buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽)

Etymology & Origin

僧

pictophoneticperson

Decomposition: ⿰亻曾 (layout: left-right)

Components:亻semantic 曾phonetic

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	sēng lǚ	monk
僧人	sēng rén	monk
苦行僧	kǔ xíng sēng	ascetic monk
高僧	gāo sēng	a senior monk
僧多粥少	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	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	sēng yuàn	abbey
粥少僧多	zhōu shǎo sēng duō	see 僧多粥少[seng1 duo1 zhou1 shao3]
棕胸佛法僧	zōng xiōng fó fǎ sēng	(bird species of China) Indochinese roller (Coracias affinis)

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

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.

侣lǚ

0.6669,036 co-occurrences

寺sì

0.47911,196 co-occurrences

佛fó

0.4448,064 co-occurrences

禅chán

0.4271,008 co-occurrences

剃tì

0.420456 co-occurrences

辩biàn

0.4111,182 co-occurrences

虔qián

0.410606 co-occurrences

俗sú

0.4103,090 co-occurrences

唐táng

0.4034,896 co-occurrences

众zhòng

0.3903,702 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (2)

僧多粥少sēngduōzhōushǎoHSK 7+

not enough to go around; having demands exceeding supply

phrase

粥少僧多zhōu shǎo sēng duōHSK 7+

see 僧多粥少[seng1 duo1 zhou1 shao3]

phrase

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

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.

Hk01.comApr 2026

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

SmzdmMar 2026

僧侣*面纱深陷其中精酿啤酒

sēng lǚ miàn shā shēn xiàn qí zhōng jīng niàng pí jiǔ

LtnMar 2026

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

TvbsMar 2026

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

亻 Radical Family — Characters sharing the person radical

傲ào 伴bàn 保bǎo 伯bó 侧cè 偿cháng 仇qiú 储chǔ 传chuán 伺sì

Related Characters

人rén 什shén 今jīn 介jiè 从cóng 他tā 们men 休xiū 会huì 住zhù

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 僧 (sēng) mean in Chinese?

僧 (sēng) primarily means "(bound form) buddhist monk (abbr. for 僧伽)." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1985 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 僧 and 增?

僧 (sēng) and 增 (zēng) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 亻 vs 土 (same 曾 component).

How many strokes does 僧 have?

僧 is written with 14 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 僧?

The radical associated with 僧 is 亻 (person). This radical appears in many characters related to person.

What are the components of 僧?

僧 is composed of: 亻 (semantic), 曾 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰亻曾 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 僧?

Common words with 僧 include: 僧侣 (sēng lǚ, "monk"); 僧人 (sēng rén, "monk"); 苦行僧 (kǔ xíng sēng, "ascetic monk"); 高僧 (gāo sēng, "a senior monk"); 僧多粥少 (sēng duō zhōu shǎo, "lit. many monks and not much gruel (idiom)"). There are over 26 compound words containing this character.

Is 僧 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 僧 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

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