山査子

Japanese

Kanji in this term
山	査	子
さん Grade: 1	さ > ざ Grade: 5	し Grade: 1
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
山樝子

山査子 (sanzashi): the flower of the Chinese hawthorn.

Etymology

Appears to be from Middle Chinese 山查子 (srɛn dʒa tsi^X, literally “mountain + hawthorn + child, little thing”). The plant itself is native to China.

The modern standard form in Chinese is 山楂 (shānzhā); compare modern Mandarin reading shānzhā, Cantonese saan¹ zaa¹.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) さんざし [sàńzáshí] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [sã̠nd͡za̠ɕi]

Noun

山(さん)査(ざ)子(し) or 山査子(サンザシ) • (sanzashi) 

1. Japanese hawthorn, Crataegus cuneata
2. (traditional Chinese medicine) dried fruit of Crataegus cuneata used in medicine

Usage notes

As with many terms that name organisms, this term is often spelled in katakana, especially in biological contexts (where katakana is customary), as サンザシ.

Of the two kanji spellings, 山査子 appears to be more common.

References

• Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN