사인

Korean

Etymology 1

From English sign, perhaps by way of Japanese サイン (sain, “signature”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [s͈a̠in]
• Phonetic hangul: [싸인]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	sain
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	sain
McCune–Reischauer?	ssain
Yale Romanization?	qsain

Noun

사인 • (sain)

1. signature

   Synonym: 서명(署名) (seomyeong)

   계약서에 사인을 했다.

   gyeyakseo-e sain-eul haetda.

   [I] signed the contract.

2. autograph

   어제 유명 배우의 사인을 받았다.

   eoje yumyeong bae'u-ui sain-eul badatda.

   I got an autograph of a famous actor yesterday.

3. signal

   감독이 선수에게 손으로 사인을 보냈다.

   gamdog-i seonsu-ege son-euro sain-eul bonaetda.

   The coach sent hand signals to the player.

Derived terms

• 사인펜 (sainpen, “marker pen”)
• 사인회 (사인會, sainhoe, “signing event”)
• 사인하다 (sainhada, “to sign”)

Etymology 2

From English sine.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [s͈a̠in]
• Phonetic hangul: [싸인]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	sain
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	sain
McCune–Reischauer?	ssain
Yale Romanization?	qsain

Noun

사인 • (sain)

1. (trigonometry, mathematics) sine

See also

• 코사인 (kosain, “cosine”)
• 탄젠트 (tanjenteu, “tangent”)

Etymology 3

Sino-Korean word from 死因, from 死 (“death”) + 因 (“cause”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰa̠(ː)in]
• Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)인]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	sain
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	sain
McCune–Reischauer?	sain
Yale Romanization?	sāin

Noun

사인 • (sain) (hanja 死因)

1. cause of death

   사인을 밝히다

   sain-eul balkida

   to determine the cause of death

Etymology 4

Sino-Korean word from 私人, from 私 (“private”) + 人 (“person”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰa̠in]
• Phonetic hangul: [사인]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	sain
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	sain
McCune–Reischauer?	sain
Yale Romanization?	sain

Noun

사인 • (sain) (hanja 私人)

1. private individual

   Antonym: 공인(公人) (gong'in)