素 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+4, 10 strokes, cangjie input 手一女戈火 (QMVIF), four-corner 5090₃, composition ⿱龶糸)

• 責
• 青

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 918, character 11
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27300
• Dae Jaweon: page 1348, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3368, character 3
• Unihan data for U+7D20

Historical forms of the character 素
Western Zhou	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Pictogram (象形) – hands 廾 braiding thread 糸.

In modern form, top component looks like 生 without the diagonal stroke – compare 責, 青.

Austroasiatic in origin; compare Khmer ស (sɑɑ, “white; to show something clearly”) (Schuessler, 2007). Cognate with 索 (OC *sraːɡ, *sreːɡ, “to search”).

素

1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) white silk
2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) silk or paper used for writing
3. white

   素面  ―  sùmiàn  ―  unadorned face; face without makeup

   素服  ―  sùfú  ―  white mourning clothes

4. plain

   素淨／素净  ―  sùjìng  ―  plain and neat

5. vegetarian (food)

   素菜  ―  sùcài  ―  vegetable dish; vegetarian dish

   吃素  ―  chīsù  ―  to live on a vegetarian diet; to be a vegetarian

   素食  ―  sùshí  ―  vegetarian foods; to maintain a vegetarian diet

6. original; unprocessed

   素材  ―  sùcái  ―  source material

   素質／素质  ―  sùzhì  ―  nature

7. usually; always; all along

   平素  ―  píngsù  ―  normally; usually

   素不往來／素不往来  ―  sù bù wǎnglái  ―  have never had contact with each other

   武漢素稱「九省通衢」。 [MSC, trad.]
   武汉素称「九省通衢」。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǔhàn sù chēng “jiǔshěng tōngqú”. [Pinyin]

   Wuhan has always been called "the thoroughfare of the nine provinces".

8. element

   元素  ―  yuánsù  ―  element

   維生素／维生素  ―  wéishēngsù  ―  vitamin

   色素  ―  sèsù  ―  pigment

9. (mathematics) prime

   素數／素数  ―  sùshù  ―  prime number

   互素  ―  hùsù  ―  coprime; relatively prime

• “素”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

1. basic
2. plain

• Go-on: す (su, Jōyō)
• Kan-on: そ (so, Jōyō)
• Kun: きじ (kiji, 素)、しろ (shiro, 素)、しろい (shiroi, 素い)、もと (moto, 素)

• 生長素(せいちょうそ) (seichōso, “auxin”)
• 素(そ)馨(けい) (sokei, “Spanish jasmine”)

• 素(す)通(どお)り (sudōri)
• 素(す)泊(どま)り (sudomari), 素(す)泊(ど)まり (sudomari)
• 素(す)敵(てき) (suteki)

Derived from Middle Chinese 素 (MC suH).

• (Tokyo) す [súꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])^[1]
• (Tokyo) す [sù] (Heiban – [0])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [sɨ]

素(す) • (su) ^{←す (su)?}

1. unadorned state

• (Tokyo) もと [mòtóꜜ] (Odaka – [2])^[1]
• IPA^(key): [mo̞to̞]

素(もと) • (moto) ^{←もと (moto)?}

1. (cooking) essence

   ご飯(はん)の素(もと)

   gohan no moto

   rice flavoring / seasoning

From Middle Chinese.

• (Tokyo) そ [sóꜜ] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [so̞]

素(そ) • (so) -na (adnominal 素(そ)な (so na), adverbial 素(そ)に (so ni))

1. plain
2. (mathematics) prime (having no factors but 1 and itself)

   互(たが)いに素(そ)

   tagai ni so

   mutually prime

From Middle Chinese 素 (MC suH). Recorded as Middle Korean 소 (swo) (Yale: swo) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

• (element; basis):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰo̞]
  • Phonetic hangul: [소]
• (plain; white):
  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰo̞(ː)]
  • Phonetic hangul: [소(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

素

Wikisource

素 (eumhun 흴 소 (huil so))
素 (eumhun 본디 소 (bondi so))

1. hanja form^? of 소 (“plain; white”)
2. hanja form^? of 소 (“element; basis”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典. [2]

素: Nôm readings: tố^[1], tó^[2]

1. (dated) chữ Hán form of tố (“clean, white”).
2. chữ Hán form of tố (“element, basis”).