失

See also: 先, 矢, and 夫

失	U+5931, 失 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-5931

← 夰
[U+5930]

CJK Unified Ideographs

夲 →
[U+5932]

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

失 (Kangxi radical 37, 大+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 竹手人 (HQO), four-corner 2503₀, composition ⿰丿夫 or ⿻𠂉大)

Derived characters

秩帙
鉄铁 (in simplified form)

References

Kangxi Dictionary: page 249, character 9
Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5844
Dae Jaweon: page 508, character 7
Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 525, character 1
Unihan data for U+5931

Chinese

simp. and trad.		失

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 失
Shang	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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

	Old Chinese
眣	ʔr'aːd, l'iːɡ, *l̥ʰiɡ
蛈	*l̥ʰiːɡ
迭	*l'iːɡ
跌	*l'iːɡ
瓞	*l'iːɡ
昳	*l'iːɡ
胅	*l'iːɡ
軼	l'iːɡ, liɡ
苵	*l'iːɡ
镻	*l'iːɡ
詄	*l'iːɡ
泆	l'iːɡ, liɡ
趃	*l'iːɡ
柣	sl̥ʰiːɡ, l'iɡ
抶	*l̥ʰiɡ
秩	*l'iɡ
帙	*l'iɡ
紩	*l'iɡ
袠	*l'iɡ
翐	*l'iɡ
妷	*l'iɡ
失	*hliɡ
佚	*liɡ
劮	*liɡ

Pictogram (象形) depicting a footprint of someone that has fallen surrounded by drops of blood (Ji Xusheng, 2004).

Alternatively, Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 手 + 丿 — something (丿) falling from a hand (手).

Etymology

Cognate with 佚 (OC *liɡ, “to escape; to lose”), 逸 (OC *lid, “to escape; at ease”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Probably Sino-Tibetan; compare Cogtse Situ [Term?] (ka-ʃlə̂k, “to fall (from hand)”), Japhug ɕlɯɣ (“to fall; to slip”) (Zhang, Jacques, and Lai, 2019).

Note also Thai เล็ดลอด (lét-lɔ̂ɔt, “to sneak; to escape by stealth”) (Manomaivibool, 1975).

Pronunciation 1

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): shī (shi¹)

(Zhuyin): ㄕ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): шы (šɨ, I)
Cantonese
(Guangzhou–Hong Kong, Jyutping): sat¹

(Taishan, Wiktionary): sit²
Gan (Wiktionary): siit⁶
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): sṳt

(Meixian, Guangdong): sed⁵
Jin (Wiktionary): seh⁴
Northern Min (KCR): sĭ
Eastern Min (BUC): sék
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): sit / set / sek

(Teochew, Peng'im): sig⁴ / sêg⁴
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁷seq
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): she⁶ / shr⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shī
  - Zhuyin: ㄕ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shih
  - Wade–Giles: shih¹
  - Yale: shr̄
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shy
  - Palladius: ши (ši)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: шы (šɨ, I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
  - Jyutping: sat¹
  - Yale: sāt
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sat⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: sed¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐt̚⁵/
- (Taishanese, Taicheng)
  - Wiktionary: sit²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sit̚⁵⁵/
Gan
- (Nanchang)
  - Wiktionary: siit⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɨt̚⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sṳt
  - Hakka Romanization System: siid^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: sid⁵
  - Sinological IPA: /sɨt̚²/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: sed⁵
  - Sinological IPA: /sət̚¹/
Jin
- (Taiyuan)⁺
  - Wiktionary: seh⁴
  - Sinological IPA (old-style): /səʔ²/
Northern Min
- (Jian'ou)
  - Kienning Colloquial Romanized: sĭ
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /si²⁴/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: sék
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛiʔ²⁴/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Jinjiang, Nan'an, Yongchun, Zhangpu, General Taiwanese, Klang)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sit
  - Tâi-lô: sit
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sid
  - IPA (Klang): /sit̚⁵³/
  - IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Yongchun, Zhangpu, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /sit̚³²/
  - IPA (Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Nan'an): /sit̚⁵/
- (Hokkien: Hui'an)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: set
  - Tâi-lô: set
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sed
  - IPA (Hui'an): /set̚⁴/
- (Hokkien: Changtai)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sek
  - Tâi-lô: sik
  - Phofsit Daibuun: seg
  - IPA (Changtai): /sek̚³²/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: sig⁴ / sêg⁴
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sik / sek
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sik̚²/, /sek̚²/

Note: sêg4 - Jieyang.

Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁷seq
  - MiniDict: seh^入
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ⁴seq
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /səʔ⁵⁵/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: she⁶ / shr⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /ʂɤ̞²⁴/, /ʂʐ̩²⁴/
  - Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /sɤ̞²⁴/, /sz̩²⁴/

Note:

she6 - vernacular;
shr6 - literary.

Middle Chinese: syit

Rime
Character	失
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	質 (48)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	式質切
Baxter	syit
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕiɪt̚/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕit̚/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕjet̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕit̚/
Li Rong	/ɕiĕt̚/
Wang Li	/ɕĭĕt̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɕi̯ĕt̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sat¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥i[t]/

(Zhengzhang): /*hliɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	失
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shī
Middle Chinese	‹ syit ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥i[t]/
English	lose
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	失
Reading #	1/1
No.	11426
Phonetic component	失
Rime group	質
Rime subdivision	2
Corresponding MC rime	失
Old Chinese	/*hliɡ/

Definitions

失

to lose; to lose track of; to mislay
to fail; to not succeed
to breach; to violate
to neglect; to miss
mistake; fault; wrongdoing
75th tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "failure" (𝍐)

Compounds

Pronunciation 2

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yì (yi⁴)

(Zhuyin): ㄧˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yì
  - Zhuyin: ㄧˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yì
  - Wade–Giles: i⁴
  - Yale: yì
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yih
  - Palladius: и (i)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵¹/

Definitions

失

Alternative form of 逸 (yì, “to flee; to run away”)
Alternative form of 佚 (“to ignore; indulgent”)

Japanese

Kanji

失

(Fourth grade kyōiku kanji)

mistake, disadvantage
loss, lose

Readings

Go-on: しち (shichi)
Kan-on: しつ (shitsu, Jōyō)
Kun: うしなう (ushinau, 失う, Jōyō)^{←うしなふ (usinafu, 失ふ, historical)}、なくす (nakusu, 失くす)、うせる (useru, 失せる)

Korean

Hanja

失 (eumhun 잃을 실 (ireul sil))

hanja form^? of 실 (“loss”)

Compounds

실직 (失職, siljik, “losing a job; unemployment”)

Vietnamese

Han character

失: Hán Nôm readings: thất, thắt

Verb

失 • (thất)

chữ Hán form of thất.
1. to lose something
2. to make a mistake; to blunder; to contravene; to infringe; to violate
3. to miss