It carries meanings such as:
“nature, disposition, temperament” (성품)
“characteristic, quality” (성질)
“gender/sex” (성별)

A phono-semantic compound made up of:
心 (심, “heart/mind”) - gives the meaning (relating to the mind, emotions, or inner nature);
生 (생, “to be born”) - provides the sound.
The combination suggests that 性 originally referred to the innate qualities or nature one is “born with” (生) that reside in the heart/mind (心).

Characters

Words

Vocabulary

to summon, to requisition, to levy, to demand

virtue, moral excellence, benevolence

certainly, surely, inevitably, without fail

to endure, to bear, to suffer

intention, will, aspiration

loyalty, devotion, faithfullness

to think, to remember, to reflect

to think, to reflect, to long fo

nature, character, gender

to be afraid, to fear

constant, unchanging, lasting, to extend, to pervade

to forgive

to pity, to feel compassion, to console, to comfort, to relieve,

resentment, deep regret, rancor, to regret, to repent

grace, favor, benevolence, kindness

to breathe, to rest, to live

to repent, to regret, to feel remorse

Explore the meaning, etymology and usage of this Chinese character. Learn its radical and how it is applied in Korean language.

Chinese character

Explore 214 Chinese radicals and their derived characters. Sort by radical or stroke count, and view the complete list of official Hanja radicals.

Chinese characters (Hanja)

Chinese characters dictionary

性

Etymology

Characters next to each other in the list