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蟬
🇹🇼🇭🇰🇯🇵🇰🇷
蝉
🇨🇳

cicada

HSK 10
Nature →Animals →Insects
chán
セン、ゼン
せみ
선
Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 單 represents the sound.
Components
Traditional (蟬)
虫 insects+ 單 list =
蟬 cicada
虫 Meaning component
chóng insects
insects, worms
單 Phonetic component
list
View phonetic series →
Simplified (蝉)
虫 insects+ 单 single =
蝉 cicada
虫 Meaning component
chóng insects
insects, worms
单 Phonetic component
dān single
single, individual, only
View phonetic series →
Notes
Similar Characters
蛊 harm (simp)蜀 short name for Sichuan蟲 insects (trad)烛 taper (simp)融 melt独 alone (jp)触 touch (jp)浊 filthy (simp)繭 cocoon (trad/jp)茧 callus (simp)萤 glow-worm (simp)虮 louse (simp)虰 less common word虱 bug (simp)虹 rainbow虺 large poisonous snake虻 horsefly虼 a flea虽 even (simp)虾 prawn (simp)
Historical Evolution
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Clerical
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Seal Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
Seal
Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)
蟬
Regular
Modern
Chinese
蝉 / 蟬 [chán]
cicada
Japanese
蝉 、 蟬 (old) せみ 、 せび (old) 、 セミ 同音

noun

  1. cicada; locust
  2. small-sized pulley
Example Sentences
🇯🇵 (1)
あみでせみを捕まえた。
We captured cicadas with a net.
CHINESE WORDS (14)
蝉联 [chán​lián] #25,740
to continue in a post
貂蝉 [Diāo​Chán] #17,646
Diaochan (-192), one of the four legendary beauties 四大美女[sì​dà​měi​nǚ], in fiction a famous beauty at the break-up of Han dynasty, given as concubine to usurping warlord Dong Zhuo 董卓[Dǒng​Zhuó] to ensure his overthrow by fighting hero Lü Bu 呂布|吕布[Lǚ​Bù]
金蝉脱壳 [jīn​chán​tuō​qiào] #45,177
lit. the cicada sheds its carapace (idiom); fig. to vanish leaving an empty shell
噤若寒蝉 [jìn​ruò​hán​chán] #45,814
to keep quiet out of fear (idiom)
蝉蜕 [chán​tuì] #50,878
cicada slough
蝉鸣 [chán​míng] #50,921
song of cicadas
寒蝉 [hán​chán] #53,428
cicada in winter
蝉衣 [chán​yī] #53,939
cicada slough (used in TCM)
蝉翼 [chán​yì] #56,433
cicada's wing
螳螂捕蝉 [táng​láng​bǔ​chán] #56,841
the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子); to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger
4 more items
JAPANESE WORDS (4)
唖蝉 [おしぜみ] #265,640
voiceless cicada (female)
夕蝉 [ゆうぜみ] #283,554
cicada singing at dusk
蝦夷蝉 [えぞぜみ] #302,543
Lyristes japonicus (species of cicada)
耳蝉 [みみずく]
auricled leafhopper (Ledra auditura)