絲

絲 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+6, 12 strokes, cangjie input 女火女戈火 (VFVIF), four-corner 2299₃, composition ⿰糹糸)

• 䜌, 㬎, 聯, 轡, 𢇅

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 924, character 3
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27448
• Dae Jaweon: page 1359, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3401, character 1
• Unihan data for U+7D72

Historical forms of the character 絲
Shang	Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Ideogrammic compound (會意／会意) : 糸 + 糸.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

絲

1. silk (fiber, cloth, fabrics, etc.)

   蠶絲／蚕丝  ―  cánsī  ―  natural silk

   絲織品／丝织品  ―  sīzhīpǐn  ―  silk fabric; silk knit goods

   絲帶／丝带  ―  sīdài  ―  silk ribbon

   絲綢之路／丝绸之路  ―  Sīchóu zhī Lù  ―  Silk Road

2. thread; thread/silk-like objects; string; thin strip; thin shred

   蜘蛛絲／蜘蛛丝  ―  zhīzhūsī  ―  spider silk; cobweb

   鐵絲／铁丝  ―  tiěsī  ―  iron wire

   鎢絲／钨丝  ―  wūsī  ―  tungsten filament

   髮絲／发丝  ―  fàsī  ―  hair strand

   粉絲／粉丝  ―  fěnsī  ―  vermicelli

   1. (cooking) shreds; julienne strips

      肉絲／肉丝  ―  ròusī  ―  shredded meat

      筍絲／笋丝  ―  sǔnsī  ―  sliced bamboo shoots

      切絲／切丝  ―  qiēsī  ―  to cut into shreds; to julienne

3. (music) string instrument

   絲竹／丝竹  ―  sīzhú  ―  string and wind instruments; music

4. trace; tiny bit; classifier for extremely small quantities or abstract things, often in negatives. ⇒ all nouns using this classifier

   絲毫／丝毫  ―  sīháo  ―  slightest bit

   一絲希望／一丝希望  ―  yī sī xīwàng  ―  a glimmer of hope

   一絲微笑／一丝微笑  ―  yī sī wēixiào  ―  a trace of smile

   一絲懷疑／一丝怀疑  ―  yī sī huáiyí  ―  a shadow of doubt

   一絲光線／一丝光线  ―  yī sī guāngxiàn  ―  a gleam of light

   一絲風都沒有／一丝风都没有  ―  yī sī fēng dōu méiyǒu  ―  There is not even a breath of wind.

   沒有一絲雲彩／没有一丝云彩  ―  méiyǒu yī sī yúncǎi  ―  not a cloud in the sky

5. (dated) the number 10^-4; 1/10000th of certain units of measure

   絲米／丝米  ―  sīmǐ  ―  decimillimeter

   1. (Mainland China) traditional unit of length equal to 1/10000th of 寸 (cùn, “Chinese inch, ¹/₃ decimeter”) ≈ 3.3 micron
   2. (Mainland China) traditional unit of weight equal to 1/10000th of 錢／钱 (qián, “mace”) = 1/1000000th of 斤 (jīn, “catty, 0.5 kilogram”) = 0.5 milligram

• → Ancient Greek: Σήρ (Sḗr, “Chinese; silkworm”)
  • → Latin: Sēres
    • English: Seres
    • Portuguese: Seres
    • Spanish: Seres
  (see sēricus for descendants of this)
• → Aramaic:
  • Classical Syriac: ܫܺܐܪܳܐ (šērā), ܫܺܐܪܳܝܳܐ (šērāyā), ܫܻܝܪܳܝܳܐ (šērāyā, “silk; silk garment”)
  • Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: שִׁירָאָה (šērāʾā), שִּׁירָא (šērā, “silk; silk garment”)
  • Mandaic: ࡔࡉ࡚ࡓࡀࡉࡀ (/⁠šērāyā⁠/)
  • → Arabic: سِيرَاء (sīrāʔ, “a kind of silk garment”)
  • → Ge'ez: ሢራይ, ሥራይ, ሤራይ (śiray, śəray, śeray, “silk; silk garment”)
• →? Old Korean: 糸利 (*SIli, “thread”)
  • Middle Korean: 실〯 (sǐl, “id.”)
    • Korean: 실 (sil, “id.”)
• → Vietnamese: tơ

• “絲”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(Hyōgai kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 糸)

1. Kyūjitai form of 糸: thread

• Go-on: し (shi)
• Kan-on: し (shi)
• Kun: いと (ito, 絲)

• 語絲(ごし) (Goshi)
• 青(チン)椒(ジャオ)肉(ロウ)絲(スー) (chinjao rōsū)
• 拌(バン)三(サン)絲(スー) (bansansū)

絲(いと) • (Ito) 

1. a female given name
2. a surname

絲 • (sa) (hangeul 사)

1. (명주): silk
2. (실): thread

• 蠶 (누에 잠, jam) silkworm
• 蛹 (번데기 용, yong) pupa
• 繭 (고치 견, gyeon) cocoon
• 絹 (명주 견, gyeon) silk
• 絲 (명주, 실 사, sir, sil) silk, thread
• 桑 (뽕나무 상, sang) mulberry

From Proto-Japonic *ito.

絲 (ito₁ or ito₂)

1. thread
   • c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 4, poem 516:

     吾以在三相二搓流絲用而附手益物今曽悔寸

     WA GA MOTERU MI₁TU API₁ ni YO₂RERU ITO MOTITE TUKE₂temasi MONO₂ IMA so₂ KUYASIki₁

     I am holding [it]! Three things spinning each other! If I put on that threads that, I'm holding right now, then I'll be regretting it!

This word is only attested phonographically in two sources: a sakimori uta (Eastern Old Japanese) poem in the Man'yōshū as 伊刀, and in the Kakyō Hyōshiki as 伊止.^[1]

The Records of the Three Kingdoms record a placename ito₁ (伊都), and the Nihon Shoki also records ito₁ (伊覩), which has been connected to Modern Japanese 糸島 (Itoshima) in Fukuoka Prefecture, and Bentley (2008, 15) connects this placename to this word.

• 絲鹿乃山 (Itoka-no₂-YAMA)

• Japanese: 糸 (ito)

絲: Hán Nôm readings: tơ, tưa, ty, ti

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.