圣 (shèng): (bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc), (bound form) peerless individual, paragon (sage, saint, emperor, master of a skill etc), (bound form) holy, sacred
圣 (shèng) is a Chinese character meaning “(bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc).” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 又 (structural) and 土 (structural). It ranks #960 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 圣 simplified form of 聖; a king 王 of listening 耳 and speaking口. Its radical form 土 (earth) appears in many related characters such as 在 (zài, to exist), 地 (dì, earth, ground), 场 (chǎng, field, place).
Definitions
- (bound form) peerless (in wisdom, moral virtue, skill etc)
- (bound form) peerless individual
- paragon (sage, saint, emperor, master of a skill etc)
- (bound form) holy
- sacred
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSimplified form of 聖; a king 王 of listening 耳 and speaking口
Decomposition: ⿱又土 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 圣 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 圣诞noun | shèng dàn | Christmas |
| 圣诞节proper-noun | shèng dàn jié | Christmas time |
| 圣诞老人proper-noun | shèng dàn lǎo rén | Father Christmas |
| 圣经noun | shèng jīng | the Confucian classics |
| 神圣adjective | shén shèng | divine |
| 圣地亚哥proper-noun | shèng dì yà gē | Santiago, capital of Chile |
| 圣母noun | shèng mǔ | goddess |
| 圣人noun | shèng rén | sage |
| 圣诞树noun | shèng dàn shù | Christmas tree |
| 圣地noun | shèng dì | holy land (of a religion) |
| 圣灵noun | shèng líng | Holy Ghost |
| 圣徒noun | shèng tú | saint |
| 圣洁adjective | shèng jié | pure and holy |
| 圣殿noun | shèng diàn | temple |
| 圣父proper-noun | shèng fù | Holy Father |
圣 appears in 103 compound words: 82 as the first character, 15 as the last, and 4 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 圣 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (14)
An epithet for Sun Wukong, the main character in the classic novel Journey to the West.
Santiago (various cities in Hispanophone countries, including the capital of Chile); San Diego
An epithet for Sun Wukong, the main character in the classic novel Journey to the West.
Santiago (various cities in Hispanophone countries, including the capital of Chile); San Diego
Showing 9 of 14 idioms containing 圣.
Example Sentences
这座古圣已经有两千多年的历史了。
zhè zuò gǔ kū yǐ jīng yǒu liǎng qiān duō nián de lì shǐ le .
This ancient sage has a history of over two thousand years.
中北冠|神锋留效 银河大“圣”可期
zhōng běi guàn shén fēng liú xiào yín hé dà shèng kě qī
The Milky Way's "saint" can be expected
刮刮乐“夹心玄学”秒中万元!网友朝圣 员工揭内幕:别买整本
guā guā lè jiā xīn xuán xué miǎo zhōng wàn yuán ! wǎng yǒu cháo shèng yuán gōng jiē nèi mù : bié mǎi zhěng běn
Scratch card "sandwich metaphysics" won 10,000 yuan in seconds! Netizens pilgrimage employees reveal the inside story: Don't buy the whole book
广角镜/“白色圣鹿”玉山现踪
guǎng jiǎo jìng bái sè shèng lù yù shān xiàn zōng
Wide-angle lens/"White Holy Deer" Yushan appears
...袭狂卖32亿 韩团CORTIS献声引粉朝圣
. . . xí kuáng mài 3 2 yì hán tuán C O R T I S xiàn shēng yǐn fěn cháo shèng
... Selling 3.2 billion Korean group CORTIS to attract fans to make a pilgrimage
三宝妈圣诞采买后离家未归!24年后现身 子女心情...
sān bǎo mā shèng dàn cǎi mǎi hòu lí jiā wèi guī ! 2 4 nián hòu xiàn shēn zǐ nǚ xīn qíng . . .
Sanbao's mother left home after Christmas shopping! Appeared 24 years later, the mood of the children...
你圣诞过得开心吗？
Nǐ Shèngdàn guòdé kāixīn ma?
Did you have a nice Christmas?
你去年写了多少张圣诞卡？
Nǐ qùnián xiě le duōshao zhāng Shèngdànkǎ?
How many Christmas cards did you write last year?
你圣诞节要什么，珍妮？
Nǐ Shèngdànjié yào shénme, zhēn nī?
What do you want for Christmas, Jenny?
想要什么样的圣诞节礼物呢？
Xiǎngyào shénmeyàng de Shèngdànjié lǐwù ne?
What do you want for Christmas?
Character Family
土 Radical Family — Characters sharing the earth radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 圣 (shèng) mean in Chinese?
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What is the radical of 圣?
What are the components of 圣?
What are common words containing 圣?
Is 圣 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 圣 with real-time feedback
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