刹那

See also: 剎那

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 刹那 – see 剎那 (“instant; moment; split-second”).
(This term, 刹那, is the simplified form of 剎那.)
Notes:

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
刹 那
せち
Grade: S		 な
Grade: S
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese 剎那 (*chat? na), a transliteration of Sanskrit क्षण (kṣaṇa).[1][2]

Originally a Buddhist term meaning the smallest possible moment in time: a split-second. Carries favorable connotations of "precious" from the Buddhist teaching that one should live well even in the shortest moment of time.

This reading is now archaic and is falling into disuse.

Pronunciation

Noun

刹那 (hiragana せちな, rōmaji sechina)

  1. see setsuna below

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
刹 那
せつ
Grade: S		 な
Grade: S
on’yomi

/setina/ → /setuna/

Shift in pronunciation from sechina above, using the kan'yōon of setsu for the first kanji.[1]

This reading is now the most common.

Pronunciation

Noun

刹那 (hiragana せつな, rōmaji setsuna)

  1. an instant, a moment
  2. (Buddhism) the smallest unit of time, of varying lengths depending on tradition:
    1. roughly 0.11 seconds, defined as 1/65th of a 弾指 (danshi), where a danshi is 1/12,000th of a day or 7.2 seconds
    2. 0.002 seconds, defined as 1/60th of a 念 (nen), where a nen is 1/60th of a 弾指 (danshi)
    3. 1/75th of a second, defined as 1/6,480,000th of a day
  3. (mathematics) by extension from the instant meaning, an extremely small number: 10-18, atto-
Derived terms

Proper noun

刹那 (hiragana せつな, rōmaji Setsuna)

  1. A female given name

References

  1. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.