Mencius

See also: mencius

English

Etymology

From Latin Mencius, from Mandarin Chinese 孟子 (Mèngzǐ).

Proper noun

Mencius

1. Chinese philosopher, follower of Confucius (?372 - 289 B.C.E., or 385 - 303/302 B.C.E.)
   • 1738, Lewis Le Comte, Memoirs and Remarks‎^[1], London: John Hughs, page 191:

     This laſt tome, notwithſtanding, is not ſo much the work of Confucius, as of Mencius his diſciple, whoſe life was leſs regular than that of his maſter, but his ſtile more eloquent and pleaſant.

   • 2016 June 17, Hao Gui, “Chinese media: Attack to defend”, in Deutsche Welle‎^[2], archived from the original on 17 June 2016‎^[3]:

     Some 2000 years ago Chinese philosopher Mencius famously wrote: "Who wins the hearts of people gains the whole world." Today, his words still ring true.

2. A collection of anecdotes and conversations of the philosopher by the same name.

Usage notes

Preceded by the definite article (the) when distinguishing the book from the philosopher.

Synonyms

• Mengzi

Translations

Chinese philosopher

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: Menci
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 孟子 (maang⁶ zi²)

  Hakka: 孟子 (Men-chṳ́)

  Hokkien: 孟子 (Bēng-chú)

  Mandarin: 孟子 (zh) (Mèngzǐ)

• Finnish: Mengzi
• French: Mencius
• Japanese: 孟子 (Mōshi)
• Korean: 맹자(孟子) (Maengja)
• Russian: Мэн-цзы m (Mɛn-czy)
• Vietnamese: Mạnh Tử

See also

Other Chinese philosophers

• Confucius: 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ); 孔(こう)子(し) (Kōshi)
• Guiguzi: 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ); 鬼(き)谷(こく)子(し) (Kikokushi)
• Laozi: 老子 (Lǎozǐ); 老(ろう)子(し) (Rōshi)
• Mozi: 墨子 (Mòzǐ); 墨(ぼく)子(し) (Bokushi)
• Sun Tzu: 孫子／孙子 (Sūnzǐ); 孫(そん)子(し) (Sonshi)
• Xunzi: 荀子 (Xúnzǐ); 荀(じゅん)子(し) (Junshi)
• Zhuangzi: 莊子／庄子 (Zhuāngzi); 荘(そう)子(し) (Sōshi)

Further reading

• “Mencius, pn.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “Mencius”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• Muncies, muscine