About
The character "僧" was devised as a transliteration for the Sanskrit term "sangha", which designates the Buddhist monastic order, initially entering Chinese through the compound "僧伽" before being abbreviated to its standalone form. Its structure is a phonetic compound, combining the person radical "亻" to denote a human category with the component "曾", which primarily provides the phonetic cue for the pronunciation "sēng". While the visual form of the character has persisted without alteration, its semantic scope has consistently centered on the designation of a Buddhist monk, maintaining this specialized meaning from its introduction into the language and reflecting its direct loan origin without significant semantic shift over time.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
那位僧人在念佛。
僧侣们每天打坐。
这位年轻僧人来自西藏。
寺庙里的僧人经常帮助穷人。
那位高僧讲解佛经很透彻。
僧人们在山中闭关修炼。
据说这位僧人有神奇的医术。
为了寻求真理，他决定出家为僧。