주인공

Jeju

Etymology

From Japanese 主人公 (shujinkō).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ɕuinɡo̞ŋ/

Noun

주인공 (ju'in'gong)

1. protagonist, leading character, hero, heroine

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 主人公, from 主 (“chief”) + 人 (“person”) + 公 (“fair”), an orthographic borrowing from Japanese 主人公(しゅじんこう) (shujinkō), from Middle Chinese 主人公 (tsyu^X nyin kuwng).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕuinɡo̞ŋ]
• Phonetic hangul: [주인공]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	ju'in'gong
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	ju'ingong
McCune–Reischauer?	chuin'gong
Yale Romanization?	cwuinkong

Noun

주인공 • (ju'in'gong) (hanja 主人公)

1. (theater, literature) protagonist, leading character, hero, heroine

   주인공이 되면 인생이 피곤해진다.

   ju'in'gong'i doemyeon insaeng'i pigonhaejinda.

   Life gets tired when you become the main character.

   • 1849, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in David Copperfield:

     나의 자서전이라고도 할 수 있는 이 이야기에서, 과연 내가 주인공인지, 아니면 다른 사람에게 주인공의 자리를 넘겼는지는 다음을 읽어보면 알게 될 것이다.

     Naui jaseojeoniragodo hal su inneun i iyagieseo, gwayeon naega ju'in'gong'inji, animyeon dareun saramege ju'in'gong'ui jarireul neomgyeonneunjineun da'eumeul ilgeobomyeon alge doel geosida.

     [original: Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.]

2. (by extension) The central figure in any situation.

Antonyms

• 적대자(敵對者) (jeokdaeja, “antagonist”)