成

Han character

成 (Kangxi radical 62, 戈+2, 6 strokes, cangjie input 戈竹尸 (IHS), four-corner 5320₀, composition ⿵戊𠃌 or ⿵戊丁(U+2F8B2))

Glyph origin

More information Historical forms of the character 成, Shang ...

Historical forms of the character 成
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

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Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *djeŋ) : semantic 戊 + phonetic 丁 (OC *rteːŋ, *teːŋ). The phonetic component is not 囗 or 口, as folk etymology states. According to Xi Jusheng 季旭昇, its original meaning was "city walls", with a reference to something protected conveyed by the weapon. Its original meaning is preserved in 城.

Etymology

Cognate with 盛 (OC *djeŋ, “to hold with a receptacle”), 城 (OC *djeŋ, “city wall; city”), 盛 (OC *djeŋs, “abundant; flourishing”) (Schuessler, 2007).

According to Bodman (1980), cognate with Tibetan གྱང (gyang, “wall”), Tibetan འགེངས་པ ('gengs pa, “to fill”), Tibetan བཀང (bkang, “to fill to the brim”), Tibetan སྐོང་བ (skong ba, “to fulfill”).

Pronunciation

Definitions

成

1. to succeed; to accomplish; to achieve; to finish; to complete
   1. (verb complement) indicates successful completion or accomplishment of an action

      做成  ―  zuòchéng  ―  to successfully complete

   沒有錢什麼事情都辦不成。 [MSC, trad.]
   没有钱什么事情都办不成。 [MSC, simp.]

   Méiyǒu qián shénme shìqíng dōu bàn bù chéng. [Pinyin]

   Without money nothing can be done.

   這種人成不了大事的。 [MSC, trad.]
   这种人成不了大事的。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè zhǒng rén chéng bùliǎo dàshì de. [Pinyin]

   These people are not able to accomplish anything significant.

2. to help to achieve

   成全  ―  chéngquán  ―  to help (somebody) succeed

   • 子曰：「君子成人之美，不成人之惡。小人反是。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     子曰：「君子成人之美，不成人之恶。小人反是。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Zǐ yuē: “Jūnzǐ chéng rén zhī měi, bù chéng rén zhī è. Xiǎorén fǎn shì.” [Pinyin]

     The Master said, "The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. The mean man does the opposite of this."

3. to become; to turn into
   1. (verb complement) into; as

      換成／换成  ―  huànchéng  ―  to change into

      翻譯成／翻译成  ―  fānyì chéng  ―  to translate into

      看成  ―  kànchéng  ―  to regard as; to mistake as

      聽成／听成  ―  tīng chéng  ―  to mishear as

      衰變成鉛206／衰变成铅206  ―  shuāibiàn chéng qiān 206  ―  to decay into ²⁰⁶Pb

   兩人成了朋友。／两人成了朋友。  ―  Liǎng rén chéng le péngyǒu.  ―  The two became friends.

   我們要把學生培養成有理想、有道德、有文化的人。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们要把学生培养成有理想、有道德、有文化的人。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen yào bǎ xuéshēng péiyǎng chéng yǒu lǐxiǎng, yǒu dàodé, yǒu wénhuà de rén. [Pinyin]

   We have to nurture students into people with ideals, morals and education.

   你搵工搵成點呀？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   你揾工揾成点呀？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   nei⁵ wan² gung¹ wan² seng⁴ dim² aa³? [Jyutping]

   How's the job hunting going?

   琴日個蛋糕整成點呀？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   琴日个蛋糕整成点呀？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   kam⁴ jat⁶ go³ daan⁶ gou¹ zing² seng⁴ dim² aa³? [Jyutping]

   How did the cake from yesterday go?

4. achievement; successful completion; positive result

   大功告成  ―  dàgōnggàochéng  ―  (of a project, work, etc.) to be completed

   守成  ―  shǒuchéng  ―  to maintain the achievements of one's predecessors

   坐享其成  ―  zuòxiǎngqíchéng  ―  to sit idle and enjoy the fruits of others' work

5. (in compounds) fully developed; fully grown

   成人  ―  chéngrén  ―  adult

   成蟲／成虫  ―  chéngchóng  ―  imago

6. fixed; ready-made

   成語／成语  ―  chéngyǔ  ―  chengyu (a certain kind of Chinese set phrase)

   成見／成见  ―  chéngjiàn  ―  preconceived idea; preconception

   成衣  ―  chéngyī  ―  ready-made clothes

7. to reach a certain level; to amount to

   成批購買／成批购买  ―  chéngpī gòumǎi  ―  to buy in batches

   成千上萬／成千上万  ―  chéngqiānshàngwàn  ―  by the thousands and tens of thousands

   成雙成對／成双成对  ―  chéngshuāngchéngduì  ―  forming pairs

8. to be all right

   你不去可不成。  ―  Nǐ bù qù kě bù chéng.  ―  No, you must go.

9. capable
10. one tenth; ten percent

    三成  ―  sān chéng  ―  three tenths (30%)

    五成半 [Cantonese]  ―  ng⁵ sing⁴ bun³ [Jyutping]  ―  5.5 tenths (55%)

    八成九  ―  bā chéng jiǔ  ―  8.9 tenths (89%)

11. (literary) to make peace

    • 十六年春，楚子自武城使公子成，以汝陰之田，求成于鄭。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
      十六年春，楚子自武城使公子成，以汝阴之田，求成于郑。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

      From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

      Shíliù nián chūn, Chǔ zǐ zì Wǔchéng shǐ Gōngzǐ Chéng, yǐ Rǔyīn zhī tián, qiú chéng yú Zhèng. [Pinyin]

      In the spring of the sixteenth year [of the reign of Duke Cheng of Lu], the viscount of Chu sent Gongzi Cheng from Wucheng, to negotiate for peace with Zheng using the fields of Ruyin.

12. 73rd tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "completion" (𝍎)
13. (Cantonese) entire

    成塊肉／成块肉 [Cantonese]  ―  seng⁴ faai³ juk⁶ [Jyutping]  ―  entire piece of meat

    成隻狗噉／成只狗噉 [Cantonese]  ―  seng⁴ zek³ gau² gam² [Jyutping]  ―  entirely like a dog

    成件事 [Cantonese]  ―  seng⁴ gin⁶ si⁶ [Jyutping]  ―  the entire matter

14. (Cantonese, Hokkien) almost; nearly; up to

    高咗成四寸 [Cantonese]  ―  gou¹ zo² seng⁴ sei³ cyun³ [Jyutping]  ―  grew almost four inches

    成一點鐘仲唔返屋企 [Cantonese, trad.]
    成一点钟仲唔返屋企 [Cantonese, simp.]

    From: 開放詞典／开放词典 [Kaifang Cidian]

    seng⁴ jat¹ dim² zung¹ zung⁶ m⁴ faan¹ uk¹ kei² [Jyutping]

    nearly 1 o'clock, yet they won't return home

15. (Cantonese) used as a verbal complement to indicate the completion of an action

    去唔成旅行 [Cantonese]  ―  heoi³ m⁴ seng⁴ leoi⁵ hang⁴ [Jyutping]  ―  to fail to go travelling

16. a surname

    成奎安 [Cantonese]  ―  sing⁴ fui¹ on¹ [Jyutping]  ―  Shing Fui On (Hong Kong actor)

Compounds

Descendants

Others:

• → Zhuang: cingz (“tenth”)

References

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