世
life; age; generation; era; world; lifetime; epoch; descendant; noble
5 strokes
Dict coverage rank #184 U+4E16
How 世 is formed
Pictograph (象形字)
Three leaves on a branch
components: 廿
? unknown part
How to remember it
generation · Heisig RSH #28
十 ten
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Characters built with 世 as their sound component
These characters all use 世 (shì) as their phonetic component — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 世 sound component | shì | generation, era, age; world |
| 泄 | xiè | drip, leak, vent; to disperse; to reduce |
| 绁 | xiè | to shorten, to contract; tie, leash |
| 贳 | shì | to borrow; to pardon; loan |
Words containing 世
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一生一世 | yī shēng yī shì | a whole lifetime (idiom); all my life |
| 不可一世 | bù kě yī shì | (idiom) to consider oneself unexcelled in the world; to be insufferably arrogant |
| 世子 | shì zǐ | crown prince; heir of a noble house |
| 中新世 | Zhōng xīn shì | Miocene (geological epoch from 24m-5m years ago) |
| 世人 | shì rén | people (in general); people around the world; everyone |
| 人世 | rén shì | the world; this world; the world of the living |
| 一世 | yī shì | generation; period of 30 years; one's whole lifetime; lifelong; age; era; times; the whole… |
| 世风日下 | shì fēng rì xià | public morals are degenerating with each passing day (idiom) |
| 上新世 | Shàng xīn shì | Pliocene (geological epoch from 5m-2m years ago) |
| 世家 | shì jiā | family influential for generations; aristocratic family |
| 家世 | jiā shì | family background |
| 世行 | Shì háng | World Bank (abbr. for 世界銀行|世界银行[Shi4 jie4 Yin2 hang2]) |
| 世上 | shì shàng | on earth |
| 世面 | shì miàn | the wider world; diverse aspects of society |
| 面世 | miàn shì | to be published (of art, literary works etc); to come out; to take shape; to see the light… |
| 三世 | sān shì | the Third (of numbered kings) |
| 下世 | xià shì | to die; future incarnation; next life; to be born; to come into the world; future generati… |
| 出世 | chū shì | to be born; to come into being; to withdraw from worldly affairs |
| 人生一世，草木一春 | rén shēng yī shì , cǎo mù yī chūn | Man has but one life, grass but one spring (idiom). fig. the brevity of human existence |
| 世事 | shì shì | affairs of life; things of the world |